Scientists are hot on the trail of a new approach to reducing the severity of peanut allergies. Dr Cenk Suphioglu, a researcher at Deakin University who is looking at peanuts, says that the key to figuring out peanut allergies is to look at the whole nut.

Suphioglu has found that the peanut proteins are “sticky” because of the carbohydrate content of the nut. As a result, peanut proteins can clump together in the digestive tract. When the proteins clump they form “super allergens”. These super allergens lead the body to overreact by producing a higher level of histamine, which can result in anaphylaxis.

Suphioglu said it is this hyper-reaction that his team is focusing on. The next step is to find out how to target the histamine reaction to reduce it. Suphioglu said that research has already identified a novel molecule that can reduce the interaction between a peanut allergen and the human immune system, which reduces any resulting allergic reaction.

Another potential outcome of the research is a special peanut extract which could be used for a safer diagnosis of peanut allergy.

Source: The Age