Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2

Srivasta KD, Qu C, Zhang T, Goldfarb J, Sampson HA, Li XM. "Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 silences peanut-induced anaphylaxis for a prolonged posttreatment period via IFN-g producing CD8+ T cells." J Allergy Clin Immunol 123 (2009): 443-451.
Currently, there is not a cure for peanut allergies. Peanut allergies are potentially life threatening and "strict avoidance is the only way to manage this condition (443)." This article describes the study of Food Allergy Herbal Formula (FAHF-2), which is now in clinical trials in the United States, as a means of avoiding and/or preventing anaphylactic responses to peanut ingestion. As stated in the article, "there is a need for safe, effective, and long-lasting therapy (443)."

For this study, researchers gave a group of peanut-allergic mice FAHF-2 orally for a prescribed amount of time and orally challenged them with peanuts during the course. A "sham" group of peanut allergic mice were not given the herbal formula and a group of non-allergic mice, the "naïve" group, were also included in the study. The study showed that the allergic mice, treated with FAHF-2, were able to tolerate ingestion of peanuts and showed no signs of anaphylaxis. Not only did the mice not react, the effects of FAHF-2 lasted up to 36 weeks after the treatment had stopped. The majority of the "sham" group of mice did react anaphylactically.

This study, conducted by a well-reputed group of researchers in the field of food allergy, is an important advancement in the field. The information it provides will be useful in my research project's section on possible cures.