Study: Skin Treatment Might Reduce Severe Reactions to Peanuts

An experimental skin treatment might help young children who have strong reactions to peanuts. The new skin patch is designed to train the body to deal with the food allergy¹.

An allergy is a strong sometimes dangerous reaction that comes after eating, touching² or breathing something that is harmless to most people.

About two percent of U.S. children are allergic³ to peanuts. Some are so allergic that even a small amount can cause a life-threatening reaction.

Some children outgrow⁴ the allergy. But many must avoid peanuts for life and carry medicine to treat a severe reaction if they accidentally eat peanuts.

In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first treatment to increase tolerance⁵ to peanuts. The treatment is called Palforzia. It targets four to 17-year-old children and is eaten daily. The California-based drug company Aimmune Therapeutics makes Palforzia. The treatment is also being tested on children younger than four.

The new patch

The new patch is called Viaskin. It provides a similar treatment to Palforzia but through the skin. France's DBV Technologies is researching skin-based treatments as another way to help the body tolerate allergens like peanuts.

The Viaskin patch is covered with a small amount of peanut protein that the skin takes in. A daily patch is worn in the upper-middle part of the back, where young children cannot pull it off.

On May 11, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study on peanut allergies⁶ involving 362 young children ages one to three. The children were tested for the allergy and received the treatment for one year. After 12 months, researchers said the children who took the skin-based treatment showed more tolerance or less severe reactions than those who had taken no effective treatment, or a placebo⁷.

Dr. Matthew Greenhawt is an allergist at Children's Hospital Colorado who helped lead the study. He said, if additional testing shows good results, "this would fill a huge unmet need."

The researchers said that about two thirds of the children who used the real patch could safely eat more peanuts, about three to four.

That compares to about one third of the children who were given the patch without the peanut protein: the placebo. Greenhawt said that group likely included children who were outgrowing⁸ the allergy during the test.

Four children receiving Viaksin experienced an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis that was found to be related to the patch. Three were treated with the medicine epinephrine to calm the reaction, and one dropped out of the study as a result.

Some of the children also accidentally ate foods containing peanuts during the study. Researchers said allergic reactions happened less often among the Viaskin users than those wearing the patches without peanut protein. The most common side effect was skin irritation⁹ around the patch.

The results "are very good news for toddlers and their families as the next step toward a future with more treatments for food allergies," said Dr. Alkis Togias of the National Institutes of Health. He was not involved with the study.

Togias warned that it is too early to compare treatment by skin and by mouth. But he pointed¹⁰ to data suggesting that both have different good and bad effects. He suggested that treatment by the mouth might be stronger but also might cause more side effects.

DBV Technologies also struggled for several years to bring the peanut patch to market. Last month the company announced that the FDA wanted additional safety research for toddlers.

At least two studies are reportedly being carried out. One is researching a longer treatment program. A second study is targeting four- to seven-year-olds.

Words in This Story

patch – n. a piece of material that contains a drug and that is worn on your skin to allow the drug to slowly enter your body over a long period of time

tolerance – n. your body's ability to become adjusted to something (such as a drug) so that its effects are experienced less strongly

anaphylaxis – n. (medical) an extreme, sudden reaction that includes swell¹¹, increased blood pressure and breathing that comes from coming in contact with a drug or protein

irritation – v. to make (part of your body) sore or painful

toddler – n. a young child who is just learning to walk

1 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

2 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

4 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。

5 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

6 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

7 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

8 outgrowing   

长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的现在分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过

参考例句：

• Vibrant colors last year around without wilting, watering, or outgrowing their pots early, quantities are limited. 它高贵优雅，不容易萎蔫，不用经常浇水，也不会长出花盆之外。

9 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。