A vaccine that can protect people from peanut allergies could be in clinical trials within a year, according to scientists from the Mount Sinai Medical School, New York.

It is estimated that ∼1.5 million people in the United States alone suffer from potentially fatal allergies to peanuts, and at present there is no cure. Research now published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology describes the development and testing in mice of a promising new vaccine.

In this study, led by Dr Hugh A. Sampson, a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria was developed that produced genetically modified forms of three peanut allergens. The proteins had been altered so that they could not be recognized by immunoglobulin E antibodies, and so no allergic reaction could occur in response to these proteins. The bacteria were heat killed and then administered as a suppository to mice with peanut allergies. The vaccine effectively protected mice from subsequent exposure to peanuts, even when this occurred 3 months after treatment.

According to Sampson, “This particular vaccine, which could be adapted for human use, provides some hope that we may be able to treat peanut allergy in human patients and that we will no longer see symptoms” (Reuters). Clinical trials are now required to test whether this vaccine will also be effective in humans.