Never before has a blood test been able to help you make the decisions you face every single day living with food allergies. Strict avoidance of your allergen is one solution, but now – with the help of your allergist – you can determine whether products labeled as “May contain peanut” or “Processed in a plant which also processes peanut” may safely be included in your child’s, or your own diet without guessing.
The Allergenis® Peanut Diagnostic will help your allergist determine if you or your child are truly allergic with 93% accuracy and if so, provide additional information on the amount of allergen it would take to likely trigger a reaction.1-3 This is known as an epitope reactivity level or more commonly known as a threshold. The epitope reactivity level of the Allergenis Peanut Diagnostic has been validated to the same American and European standards (PRACTALL) that serve as dose guidelines for an oral food challenge in use today.
Food allergy thresholds are a growing subject of interest to allergists and researchers because they impact the way an individual can manage their allergies and can improve a patient’s quality of life.4-5 The threshold level provided by the Allergenis test – which has never been available before by blood test – may give you and your allergist more information as you consider together whether to reintroduce peanut, to pursue the latest therapeutic options or to adjust the lifestyle precautions necessary for you to stay safely below your limits of peanut ingestion.
For example, a level 1 peanut allergic patient has a very low tolerance of peanut protein and may react to a small amount of allergen. Complete avoidance of foods that may contain peanut or have a potential for cross contact and cross contamination are likely to be recommended by a healthcare provider. A level 2 or 3 allergic patient may have a higher tolerance to cross-contamination and may wish to discuss what that means for their lifestyle and treatment options with their allergist. Please note, all patients at all levels are still allergic and should always carry an epinephrine auto-injector with them at all times.
Who the testing is for
The Allergenis test has been validated for anyone over the age of 4. However, the test isn’t for everyone. If you fall into one of these categories, this test may not be for you:
- currently eating peanuts
- on any immunotherapy (for any allergen, it interferes with the epitope signal)
- taking omalizumab (also interferes with the epitope signal)
- if you are a New York resident (Allergenis does not have licensing here yet)
How to get the testing
Testing is not available yet (coming soon in 2022). However, you can preregister for the test on enjoylifeintheknow.com with no financial obligation. After you register, Allergenis will notify you when testing is available in your area and options for ordering.
The Allergenis Peanut Diagnostic must be ordered by a provider. You can either request through your current provider or utilize an allergy focused telemedicine provider. The testing requires a blood draw which can be coordinated with an in-office draw at your allergists’ office or Allergenis will send a mobile phlebotomist (trained in pediatric draws) to a location convenient to you.
Learn more about the process in the below video:
How Allergenis is different
The Allergenis test provides unparalleled precision and resolution because it digs deeper than current IgE blood tests. Allergenis analyzes epitopes, which are small sub-components of proteins. Epitopes have been studied since the 1990s and there have been numerous articles published specifically on the use of epitopes and how they relate to allergies. Focusing on the epitopes instead of the whole protein enables a laboratory developed test that is more accurate.
The Allergenis laboratory developed test has been validated for years on multiple cohorts (groups of patient samples), and ONLY the cohorts that had a confirmed oral food challenge were included. Allergenis currently holds the largest repository of peanut allergy oral food challenge confirmed cases in the world.
Relevant References
- Suarez-Farinas M, Suprun M, Kearney P, Getts R., Grishina G., Hayward C., Luta D., Porter A., Witmer M., du Toit G., Lack G., Chinthrajah R., Galli S., Nadeau K., Sampson H. Accurate and Reproducible Diagnosis of Peanut Allergy Using Epitope Mapping. 15 May 2021. Allergy . https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/all.14905
- Manuscript in submission. Data on file.
- Sampson H., Gerth van Wijk R., MD, Bindslev-Jensen C., Sicherer S., Teuber S., Burks W.,, MD, Dubois A., Beyer K., Eigenmann P., Spergel J., Werfel T., Chinchilli V. PRACTALL consensus report. 2012. JACI, 130:6
- Crevel R., Ballmer-Weber B., Holzhauser T., Hourihane J., Knulst A., Mackie A., Timmermans F., Taylor S. Thresholds for food allergens and their value to different stakeholders. Allergy. 2008: 63: 597-609.
- Hourihane J., Allen K., Shreffler W., Dunngalvin G., Nordlee J., Zurzolo G., Dunngalvin A., Gurrin L., Baumert J., and Taylor S. Peanut Allergen Threshold Study (PATS): Novel single-dose oral food challenge study to validate eliciting doses in children with peanut allergy. J. Allergy. Clin. Immunol. 2017: 1583-1590.
- Sicherer S., Abrams E., Nowak-Wegrzyn A., Hourihane J. Managing food allergy when the patient is not highly allergic. J. Allergy. Clin. Immunol. 2021:46-55. https://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(21)00608-5/fulltext
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