Management of Food Allergy in Adults, from Assessment to Intervention

The management of food allergy in adults represents a growing and complex area within the field of allergy and immunology. While childhood food allergy has been extensively studied, adult-onset food allergies, persistent cases from childhood, and the unique challenges adults face have only recently begun to attract research attention. The limited guidance on diagnosis, risk stratification, and long-term management for adults, as well as evolving understandings of immune tolerance and response, create questions for clinicians and researchers alike. Recent debates have focused on the differing natural histories of food allergy in adults versus children, the increasing prevalence of adult-onset cases, and the psychosocial as well as nutritional impacts of life-long avoidance strategies.

Studies have highlighted the promise of allergen immunotherapy - oral, epicutaneous, and sublingual approaches - in modifying disease course and improving quality of life in children as patients, but data for adults is lacking. Additionally, developments in diagnostics including component-resolved diagnostics (CRD), are beginning to transform how we approach and risk-stratify individual patients. There is a clear need for more robust research to understand optimal approaches to assist assessment and long-term management of adults with food allergy.

This Research Topic aims to convene the latest evidence, expert recommendations, and innovative research on managing food allergy in adults, with a focus on an innovative approach to diagnosis of component and co-factor associated allergy, the role for immunotherapy, and other emerging treatment strategies. We seek to review uncertainties in adult food allergy guidance, explore the role of novel therapeutics, and delineate best practices for personalized care. Authors are encouraged to address questions related to:
- Approaches to assessing complex food allergy in adults
- Co-factor associated Allergy
- Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS)
- Lipid Transfer Protein (LPT) Allergy
- Role of Immunotherapy in adults and how this can be integrated safely into clinical practice
- Barriers to widespread adoption and unity within the field

To gain further insights into the clinical management of adult food allergy, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Patterns of adult onset food allergy
- Advances in allergen immunotherapy for adult patients (oral, epicutaneous, sublingual)
- Real-world outcomes and safety of emerging therapeutics, including biologics and novel agents
- Comparative effectiveness of management strategies and decision-making tools
- Challenges in diagnosis, risk assessment, and patient stratification in adult food allergy
- Standardised assessment of co-factor associated food allergy
- Patient-centered care, multidisciplinary approaches, and shared decision-making models
- Psychosocial impacts and quality of life outcomes related to food allergy
- Health policy, guidelines develop

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Food allergy management, Biomarkers, Adult food allergy, Allergen Immunotherapy, Oral Immunotherapy, Epicutaneous Immunotherapy, Sublingual Immunotherapy, Oral allergy syndrome (OAS), Lipid transfer protein allergy (LTP), Co-factor allergy, Exercise-dependent allergy, Emerging therapies, Biologics, Food allergy diagnosis, Risk stratification, Patient-centered care, Food allergy guidelines, Novel therapeutics, Quality of life, Allergy treatment outcomes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.