The Use of Oral Immunotherapy for the Treatment of Food Allergies at the Present Stage

Introduction. Recently, the issues surrounding the treatment of food allergies have become increasingly significant due to the rising number of cases, particularly in the pediatric population. Food allergy represents a serious public health concern, affecting millions of people worldwide, as it can trigger a wide range of clinical manifestations – from mild symptoms to life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. The aim of this study is to systematize and evaluate data from contemporary publications dedicated to the use of oral immunotherapy in the management of food allergies. Materials and methods. An analysis was conducted of scientific works selected using the keywords “food allergy”, “IgE-mediated food allergy”, “anaphylaxis”, “food allergy treatment”, and “oral immunotherapy” from a corpus of fulltext articles published between 2018 and 2025. The review includes 22 out of 90 analyzed Russian and international sources, filtered through the PubMed electronic scientific library over the past seven years. Results. The rising prevalence of food allergies necessitates the development of novel treatment methods, as conventional approaches often prove insufficiently effective, particularly in patients with severe forms of allergy. A promising therapeutic strategy is oral immunotherapy, which may enhance patients' quality of life by reducing the risk of severe allergic reactions. Discussion and conclusion. Oral immunotherapy offers significant benefits for patients with food allergies. The most important of these is the reduction in the risk of severe reactions upon accidental exposure to the allergen due to gradual desensitization, which increases the tolerance threshold and reduces the need for a strict elimination diet. Oral immunotherapy improves quality of life by alleviating psychological burden and anxiety while expanding patients' social opportunities. In some patients, primarily children, oral immunotherapy may lead to long-term tolerance, enabling them to consume the allergen without the need for ongoing maintenance therapy.