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Dr Isabelle Bossé (Allergist)
American researchers have just developed a toothpaste specially designed to help people suffering from food allergies. A first approach which seems fragile, according to Dr Isabelle Bossé, allergist.
This is an original approach to help people suffering from peanut allergies. American scientists have developed a toothpaste that would be able to desensitize these patients.
A toothpaste containing small amounts of peanut protein
To test this particular toothpaste, containing small amounts of peanuts, scientists tested it on 32 allergic adults. 24 participants received toothpaste containing the active substance and 8 received a placebo toothpaste. The toothpaste was distributed in calibrated and increasing doses and helps clean the teeth, like ordinary toothpaste.
The volunteers had to brush their teeth with it for 11 months. At the end of this period, the researchers found that none of them suffered a serious reaction. In contrast, 54% of participants experienced mild itching in the mouth and around the lips, but no one dropped out of the study due to side effects.
Can we imagine desensitization through this?
By exposing participants to small amounts of allergen, researchers hope to desensitize them over time, with a type of oral immunotherapy. Doctissimo interviewed Dr. Isabelle Bossé, allergist, to better understand the impact of this study. This moderates the results of this work. “Choosing a toothpaste may seem attractive, because in fact, the immune cells of the sublingual mucosa are already “used” for other desensitization or allergenic immunotherapy for dust mites, cats, pollen, etc. So the principle is good. On the other hand, the study is carried out on a very small number of patients, which removes significant weight from it. Additional studies are therefore necessary to confirm these initial results.” estimates the specialist. Remember that there is currently no treatment for peanut allergy.