Three cases of oral immunotherapy for IgE-mediated egg allergy

Food allergy is an immune-mediated adverse reaction that occurs mainly by food ingestion. Some children with food allergies manifest fatal symptoms like anaphylaxis. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) may offer an effective therapeutic modality for persistent and severe forms of food allergies. We report our experience with OIT in 3 patients with IgE-mediated hen's egg allergy. Our treatment strategy consists of 1-3 days of initial escalation, 47 to 65 weeks of build-up phase, and 1 year of maintenance phase. Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP133, 1 x 10(10) colony-forming unit/day was taken during OIT. As a result, 1 patient achieved successful desensitization, and 1 patient reached maintenance therapy, but did not obtain desensitization. In addition, 1 patient withdrew from treatment due to anxiety symptoms. Despite the limited number of patients, we experienced and herein presented 3 cases of OIT in egg allergy. More trials of OIT need to be performed as a treatment option in Korean children with food allergies.