Clinical Research Directory

A 52-week Study of Remibrutinib in IgE-mediated Food Allergy

The purpose of this Phase III study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of remibrutinib in participants with peanut, or cow's milk ("milk", cooked and uncooked) or hen's egg ("egg", cooked and uncooked) immunoglobulin E (IgE)- mediated allergy in comparison to placebo.

Microbiota as Potential Target for Food Allergy

Food allergy (FA) derives from a dysregulation of oral tolerance mechanisms. Studies suggest a crucial role for enteric microflora in oral tolerance development. An altered composition of intestinal microflora results in an unbalanced local and systemic immune response to food allergens. There are qualitative and quantitative differences in gut microbiota composition in children with food allergy. These findings support the concept that specific beneficial bacteria from human intestinal microflora, designated probiotics, could restore intestinal microflora homeostasis and prevent or treat FA.

Stepwise Heat-Denaturated Protein Introduction for Tolerance Induction in Food Allergy

This interventional study aims to validate an early heated protein introduction protocol in cow's milk allergic children who already developed tolerance towards extensively heated cow's milk, in order to speed up the development of complete cow's milk tolerance. Natural complete tolerance induction towards cow's milk takes several years of strict cow's milk avoidance with high risk of anaphylaxis by accidental cow's milk intake. By shortening the time towards complete tolerance, not only the quality of life of both children and parents ameliorates drastically, the time frame for potential anaphylactic reactions is also strongly reduced and can be considered as a preventive strategy to reduce allergic reactions too. Moreover, this strategy has proved efficient for hen's egg allergy. The main question this study wants to answer is whether a 12 months stepwise heated cow's milk introduction (either by gradual reduction of the cooking time or by the use of the Flemish Milk Ladder) in 20'-cooked cow's milk tolerant subjects, results in a larger proportion of complete cow's milk tolerant children after 12 months compared to natural tolerance induction (with 20' cooked milk introduction only).

Epigenetic Effects in Children With Cow's Milk Allergy Treated With Different Formulas

Lactobacillus GG (LGG) is able to exert long lasting effects in children with atopic disorders. Nutramigen LGG accelerates tolerance acquisition in infants with cow's milk allergy. The mechanisms of these effects are still largely undefined. The effect of LGG could be related at least in part by the immunoregulatory role played by LGG. This probiotic can balance the generation of cytokines possibly involved in IgE- or non-IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy Interleulkin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-10, IFN-γ , TGF-β, and TNF-Υ), which can contribute to modulation of inflammatory processes. The investigators have demonstrated that children with IgE-mediated CMA produce significantly higher level of IL-4 and IL-13 in response to cow's milk protein, and that tolerance is associated with a marked reduction of IL-13 production and a concomitant increased frequency of IFN-γ releasing cells. Epigenetics studies the heritable (and potentially reversible) changes of the genome inherited from one cell generation to the next which alter gene expression but do not involve changes in primary DNA sequences, highlighting the complexity of the inter-relationship between genetics and nutrition. There are three distinct, but closely interacting, epigenetic mechanisms (histone acetylation, DNA methylation, and non-coding microRNAs) that are responsible for modifying the expression of critical genes associated with physiologic and pathologic processes. The profile of epigenetic modifications associated with Th lineage commitment, coupled with the sensitivity of the early developmental period, has led to speculation that factors that disrupt these pathways may increase the risk of allergic diseases. Specifically, effects on DNA methylation and endogenous histone deacetylase inhibitors acting on specific pathways (Th1 and T regulatory cell differentiation) may favour Th2-associated allergic differentiation. MicroRNAs are another structural components of an epigenetic mechanism of post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNA translation. It has been recently identified a specific Th2-associated microRNA (miR-21) that is critical for the regulation of Th cell polarization. It has been previously demonstrated an inverse DNA methylation pattern of cytokines involved in Th2 response (IL-4, IL-5) compared with cytokines involved in Th1 response (IL-10, INF- y) in children with CMA acquiring oral tolerance, with the most pronounced effects in those treated with Nutramigen LGG.

Effectiveness and Safety of Milk Ladders in Children with IgE-Mediated Cow's Milk Protein Allergy

Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is one of the most common food allergies in early childhood. The first-line treatment of CMPA is the elimination of cow's milk proteins (CMPs) from the child's or maternal diet. Available data from the literature indicate that most children with CMPA acquire tolerance to CMPs with age. An assessment of tolerance acquisition to CMPs is commonly performed using milk ladder. However, scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of the milk ladder in children with CMPA is limited. Currently, there is no standardised milk ladder protocol, and different versions of the ladder and recommend by scientific societies in various countries. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and safety of the 4-step milk ladder (4-ML) compared to the 6-step milk ladder (6-ML) in children with IgE-mediated CMPA. This is an open-label, randomised superiority trial with two parallel arms and a 1:1 allocation ratio.

Clinical Versus Home Introduction of Milk in Children with Non-IgE-mediated Cow's Milk Allergy

There are a lot of parents who believe that their child may not tolerate cow's milk because they develop symptoms such as redness of the skin or they may vomit. It is not always easy to find out if these infants should indeed avoid drinking cow's milk or that the symptoms are caused by something else, for instance because they have a viral illness. The goal of the investigators is to find out if cow's milk should be introduced in the hospital or if it can also be advised to perform the introduction at home to determine if an infant can drink cow's milk without developing symptoms. Half of the participants will drink cow's milk in the hospital. This test is performed on two days. On one of the days cow's milk will be offered. On the other day a look-alike substance is offered. The other half of the participants will drink cow's milk at home by starting to drink a little bit of milk and in a few steps drink a normal bottle of cow's milk. The main question is whether both tests can be used to find out if an infant can drink cow's milk without developing symptoms.

Detection of Metabolite Biomarkers for the Early Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cow's Milk Allergy in Children

In this study, fecal and urine samples will be collected from children diagnosed with : * IgE mediated cow's milk allergy, * suspected of a cow's milk allergy, but with negative diagnosis * IgE mediated food allergy other than cow's milk * healthy brothers and sisters of the first three groups A subset of patients with IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy will be asked to provide a urine and fecal sample yearly for prognostic purposes. The samples will be analyzed using a technique called metabolomics to identify biomarker candidates with diagnostic and/or prognostic potential. Additionally, microbiome analysis will be performed to map the microbiome of all groups.