Use of Baked Milk in Oral Immunotherapy for Severe IgE-mediated Cow's Milk Protein Allergic Patients

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) programs for milk, egg and peanut, desensitize patients to their respective allergens and thereby decrease their risk of morbidity and mortality. OIT programs, however, are not without adverse events, particularly in highly sensitive patients. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the administration of baked milk (BM) products to IgE-CMA patients that are non-reactive to BM, can promote tolerance to unheated milk (UM). The goal of our research is to determine whether BM can promote desensitization even in the highly sensitive patient, who reacts to baked milk as well. In a second step, we hypothesize BM-OIT will promote desensitization to unheated milk, as well. Importance: The change in the risk/benefit ratio of such a program will alter the therapeutic approach to an IgE-CMP allergic patient. Probable implications to Medicine: BM-OIT will allow highly sensitive patients to tolerate milk products, decreasing their risk of life-threatening reactions. Furthermore, analysis of the immune modulation parameters that change during the treatment program, should pave the way for defining mechanisms underlying tolerance in CMP allergy.