Microneedle technique to treating peanut allergy shows promise in mice

According to a recent study, treating peanut allergy with microneedles might increase desensitisation by directly directing the allergen to the skin, protecting millions of individuals from severe allergic responses.

Researchers from Michigan Medicine and Moonlight Therapeutics tested a dermal stamp containing peanut-coated microneedles on mice by putting it to the skin for five minutes once a week for five weeks on animals. They compared it to mice who received epicutaneous immunotherapy, which entails wearing a patch on the skin for 24 hours during a 24-hour period.

The findings, published in Immunotherapy, show that animals given five weekly microneedle treatments had much higher rates of peanut allergy desensitisation than mice given EPIT, which took two months of treatment to obtain protection. Despite using a dosage of peanut protein that was ten times lower than EPIT’s, the microneedle therapy was successful.

“While our pre-clinical results are from studies in animal models, they demonstrate the potential for peanut microneedles to improve food allergen immunotherapy through the skin,” said Jessica O’Konek, Ph.D., senior author of the paper and research assistant professor at the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at Michigan Medicine. “Treatment options for food allergy are limited, so there is a lot of motivation for the development of novel therapeutics. It will be exciting to watch the clinical development of this technology,” she said.

Peanut allergies affect around 6 million Americans, with symptoms ranging from minor hives to potentially catastrophic anaphylactic responses. Currently, the United States Food and Drug Administration has only authorised orally given immunotherapy as a treatment for peanut allergy. Patients must, however, adhere to a stringent long-term strategy for taking each dose.

Peanut allergies affect around 6 million Americans, with symptoms ranging from minor hives to potentially catastrophic anaphylactic responses. Currently, the United States Food and Drug Administration has only authorised orally given immunotherapy as a treatment for peanut allergy. Patients must, however, adhere to a stringent long-term strategy for taking each dose.

EPIT has been shown to be safe in clinical studies, however the treatment’s effectiveness has been inconsistent. This, according to O’Konek, might be related to the skin’s barrier, which may reduce the quantity of allergen absorbed by the body. Microneedle patches that supply peanut protein to specific areas may provide a more regulated administration of the allergen.

“This is an intriguing technique that might give a one-of-a-kind approach to desensitise patients with food allergies,” said James R. Baker, Jr., M.D., co-author of the study and director of the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center. “These promising animal results support the platform’s ongoing development.”

Akhilesh Kumar Shakya & Harvinder Singh Gill, Texas Tech University Department of Chemical Engineering; Vladimir Zarnitsyn & Samirkumar R. Patel, Moonlight Therapeutics, Inc.; Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center: Jeffrey Landers, Katarzyna Janczak; Akhilesh Kumar Shakya & Harvinder Singh Gill, Texas Tech University Department of Chemical Engineering; Vladimir Zarnitsyn & Samirkumar R.