The IMPACT trial – a double blind randomized placebo controlled study – was designed to test whether young, peanut allergic children (12-48 months) could be desensitized with peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) and ultimately remain non-responsive to peanut after discontinuation of OIT. In an article published in The Lancet, the study team showed that 71% of the oral immunotherapy treated children, compared to only 2% of those receiving placebo, became desensitized to peanut. Additionally, 21% demonstrated sustained unresponsiveness to peanut 6 months after stopping OIT. Further analysis showed that younger age and lower baseline peanut-specific IgE were predictive of sustained unresponsiveness, suggesting that there is a therapeutic window of opportunity in which OIT can modulate peanut allergic responses resulting in meaningful and durable clinical outcomes.
Learn more in the NIH's Press Release.
Read the original publication in The Lancet.