Peanut allergy and anaphylaxis.

Peanuts are a frequent cause of food allergy and the most common cause of fatal food-induced anaphylaxis in the U.S. Advances during the past two years have promoted our understanding of peanut allergens and peanut allergy prevalence, etiology, diagnosis, and therapy. The advances highlighted in this review include evidence that the peanut allergens most important in disease differ in different parts of the world, that early oral exposure to peanuts may decrease the frequency of peanut allergy, while early nonoral exposure may have the opposite effect, that complement activation by peanut constituents appears to promote peanut-induced anaphylaxis and that oral immunotherapy, anti-IgE antibody, and a herbal formulation are promising approaches for the treatment of this disorder.