Reacciones alérgicas a alimentos

Food allergy, which can either be IgE mediated or non-IgE mediated, is an increasing public health entity and warrants an important impact on quality of life of the patients who suffer from this condition. It is comprised among the fifth most frequent causes for consultation in the allergy clinic in Spain. Exercise, alcohol intake, stress and several drugs (e. g. NSAIDs and antiacids) acting as cofactors may increase the intestinal permeability, advantaging the allergic response in susceptible individuals. Food allergens shall be classified in class 1, which sensitization occurs in the digestive tract, and class 2, warranted by a concomitant sensitization to aeroallergens which share evolutionarily conserved proteins, defining cross-sensitization. Considering the wide clinical spectrum which food allergy may exert, the oral allergy syndrome constitutes the most frequent clinical picture. Both food avoidance and symptomatic treatment are being relegated by an aetiologic approach, by means of oral immunotherapy, pre/probiotics and monoclonal antibodies, all of them, with promising future.