For example, if a person with
diabetes mellitus has a bad
allergic reaction to taking a full
dose of beef
insulin, the person is given a very small amount of the insulin at first, so small that the person has no adverse reaction or very limited
symptoms as a result. Over a period of time, larger doses are given until the person is taking the full dose. This is one way to help the body get used to the full dose, and to avoid having the allergic reaction to beef-origin insulin. A temporary desensitization method involves the administration of small doses of an
allergen to produce an
IgE-mediated response in a setting where an individual can be treated in the event of anaphylaxis; this approach, through uncharacterized mechanisms, eventually overrides the
hypersensitive IgE response. Desensitization approaches for food
allergies are generally at the research stage. They include: • oral immunotherapy, which involves building up tolerance by eating a small amount of (usually baked) food; • sublingual immunotherapy, which involves placing a small drop of milk or egg white under the tongue; • epicutaneous immunotherapy, which injects the allergic food under the skin; •
monoclonal anti-IgE antibodies, which non-specifically reduce the body's capacity to produce an allergic reaction; • a Chinese herbal formulation, FAHF-2, another non-specific approach currently being studied in peanut allergy; • use of
probiotics; •
helminthic therapy; • a drug to suppress
toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9); and •
mepolizumab to treat
eosinophilic esophagitis. == See also ==