AI Summary
Researchers at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital have discovered that a genetic biomarker called α-tryptase may help predict the severity of food allergy reactions. Identifying the presence of this biomarker could help determine if a patient is at risk for a severe reaction and may require the use of an epinephrine auto-injector. Additionally, targeting or blocking α-tryptase could lead to new treatment strategies for food allergies.
Researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and colleagues reported for the first time that a genetic biomarker may help predict the severity of food allergy reactions. Currently, no reliable or readily available clinical biomarker accurately distinguishes patients with food allergies who are at risk for severe life-threatening reactions versus mild symptoms. Findings were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Study: Severe food allergy reactions are associated with α-tryptase. Image Credit: Kaspars Grinvalds / Shutterstock
Dr. Lang and colleagues found that the presence of an enzyme isoform called α-tryptase, encoded by the TPSAB1 gene, correlates with an increased prevalence of anaphylaxis or severe reaction to food compared to subjects without any α-tryptase.
“Determining whether or not a patient with food allergies has α-tryptase can easily be done in clinical practice using a commercially available test to perform genetic sequencing from cheek swabs,” said lead author Abigail Lang, MD, MSc, attending physician and researcher at Lurie Children’s and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “If the biomarker is detected, this may help us understand that the child is at a higher risk for a severe reaction or anaphylaxis from their food allergy and should use their epinephrine auto-injector if exposed to the allergen. Our findings also open the door to developing an entirely new treatment strategy for food allergies that would target or block α-tryptase. This is an exciting first step and more research is needed.”
Tryptase is found mainly