Social Media and the Allergist.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: With this brief review, we summarize our findings of how allergists, professional organizations and patients within the allergy space are using social media to date. RECENT FINDINGS: Millions of Americans suffer from allergic conditions and it has been well established that there aren't enough allergists to help treat and reach each of these people. With a noticeable absence from social media platforms of board certified allergists with knowledge based in evidence and science, the vacuum has been filled by others - some of whom advocate for the exact things we discourage because they are not helpful, and can even be harmful, for our allergic patients. While there are drawbacks to using social media platforms, as a specialty we need to acknowledge and perhaps even embrace the idea that the use of social media can have a positive effect - as a means to not only introduce, engage and educate our patients and other HCPs, but also to reduce misinformation. Social media is a powerful tool that can be responsibly used by our allergy community to amplify our collective voice to share important health information with our patients and other healthcare professionals and we believe that more training and education needs to be done so that our speciality can join others in becoming a larger voice in the space.

Oral tolerance and oral immunotherapy for food allergy: Evidence for common mechanisms?

Food allergies affect up to 10% of the US population, can be life-threatening, and have a significant negative impact on quality of life. Delayed dietary introduction of foods in childhood can hinder the induction of oral tolerance, an active regulatory response to foods that prevents the development of food allergy. Some children outgrow their food allergies naturally, while many others have persistent, lifelong food allergy for which there are few therapeutic options. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a therapeutic approach of giving increasing amounts of food to attempt to desensitize the allergic individual. In this review, we focus on the immune mechanisms common to oral tolerance and response to oral immunotherapy, with the objective of determining whether true tolerance can be achieved after food allergy has been established.

Podcasting in Clinical Allergy and Immunology: Our Experience and a Review of the Current Landscape.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review aims to improve our understanding of podcasts in the field of Allergy and Immunology and to share our experience in creating and hosting The Itch Podcast. To our knowledge, this is the first review providing an overview of podcasting in the field. RECENT FINDINGS: We found forty-seven podcasts in our search. Ten of these podcasts were specifically focused on Immunology and the other thirty seven covered allergy topics in general. Of the allergy podcasts, the majority, sixteen out of thirty-seven, were produced and hosted by patients and caregivers of patients living with allergies.  Our extensive research on podcasts and our own experience in podcast development has led us to recognize the crucial role that Allergy and Immunology podcasts can play in disseminating medical knowledge and clinical information to the public, while also enhancing the exposure of trainees to this specialty and supporting the professional growth and practice of Allergists and Immunologists.

Impact of Fellow Participation During Colonoscopy on Adenoma Detection Rates.

BACKGROUND: An endoscopist's adenoma detection rate (ADR) is inversely related to interval colorectal cancer risk and cancer mortality. Previous studies evaluating the impact of gastroenterology fellow participation in colonoscopy on ADR have generated conflicting results. AIMS: We aimed to determine the impact of fellow participation, duration of fellowship training, and physician sex on ADR and advanced ADR (AADR). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed average-risk patients undergoing screening colonoscopy at Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System Brooklyn Campus and Kings County Hospital Center. Review of colonoscopy and pathology reports were performed to obtain adenoma-specific details, including the presence of advanced adenoma and adenoma location (right vs. left colon). RESULTS: There were 893 colonoscopies performed by attending only and 502 performed with fellow participation. Fellow participation improved overall ADR (44.6% vs. 35.4%, p < 0.001), right-sided ADR (34.1% vs. 25.2%, p < 0.001), and AADR (15.3% vs. 8.3%, p < 0.001); however, these findings were institution-specific. Year of fellowship training did not impact overall ADR or overall AADR, but did significantly improve right-sided AADR (p-value for trend 0.03). Female attending physicians were associated with increased ADR (47.1% vs. 37.0%, p = 0.0037). Fellow sex did not impact ADR. CONCLUSIONS: Fellow participation in colonoscopy improved overall ADR and AADR, and female attending physicians were associated with improved ADR. Year of fellowship training did not impact overall ADR or AADR.

JAK1 inhibition with abrocitinib decreases allergen-specific basophil and T-cell activation in pediatric peanut allergy.

Background: JAK1 is a signaling molecule downstream of cytokine receptors, including IL-4 receptor α. Abrocitinib is an oral JAK1 inhibitor; it is a safe and effective US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. Objective: Our objective was to investigate the effect of abrocitinib on basophil activation and T-cell activation in patients with peanut allergy to determine the potential for use of JAK1 inhibitors as a monotherapy or an adjuvant to peanut oral immunotherapy. Methods: Basophil activation in whole blood was measured by detection of CD63 expression using flow cytometry. Activation of CD4+ effector and regulatory T cells was determined by the upregulation of CD154 and CD137, respectively, on anti-CD3/CD28- or peanut-stimulated PBMCs. For the quantification of peanut-induced cytokines, PBMCs were stimulated with peanut for 5 days before harvesting supernatant. Results: Abrocitinib decreased the allergen-specific activation of basophils in response to peanut. We showed suppression of effector T-cell activation when stimulated by CD3/CD28 beads in the presence of 10 ng of abrocitinib, whereas activation of regulatory T-cell populations was preserved in the presence of abrocitinib. Abrocitinib induced statistically significant dose-dependent inhibition in IL-5, IL-13, IL-10, IL-9, and TNF-α in the presence of peanut stimulation. Conclusion: These results support our hypothesis that JAK1 inhibition decreases basophil activation and TH2 cytokine signaling, reducing in vitro allergic responses in subjects with peanut allergy. Abrocitinib may be an effective adjunctive immune modulator in conjunction with peanut oral immunotherapy or as a monotherapy for individuals with food allergy.