We are very excited to announce that our team succeeded in producing the first large batch of high quality peanut extract!

First steps into the world of food allergy

Peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies. Currently 1-2% of the world population has peanut allergy. Amongst them are many children who suffer from this allergy and the prevalence in children in the US, Europe and Australia has been reported to have doubled over the past 10 years. In the majority of cases peanut allergy is a lifelong disease, making it is also very common amongst adults. Symptoms are often mild to moderate, but they can unfortunately be life-threatening as well. In highly sensitive patients, even the tiniest amount of peanut protein (sub-milligram) can trigger an allergic reaction. Oral exposure is the most common route for triggering adverse reactions, including the life-threatening ones, but inhalation and skin exposure can also induce symptoms. Central to the adverse reactions to peanut allergens are specific IgE antibodies that are bound to receptors on the surface of mast cells and basophils. Upon exposure to peanut protein, these receptors can be crosslinked, leading to mast cell/basophil degranulation. This can kick-off an individually varying spectrum of allergic symptoms including life-threatening anaphylaxis.

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Citeq has been contributing to the field of allergy research, both therapeutics and diagnostics, for over 25 years. We are specialized in house dust mites, insects and moulds and have mainly been delivering well-defined allergen source material for research and development. We are happy to announce that our R&D team successfully produced a peanut extract, containing the relevant allergens such as the peanut storage proteins Ara h 1, Ara h 2, Ara 3 and Ara h 6, but also cross-reactive allergens such as Ara h 8 and Ara h 9. This is our first step into the world of food allergy, and we are very much looking forward to contributing here as well. In the future we aim at adding purified peanut allergens to our portfolio, such as Ara h 1 and Ara h 2, to also optimally serve the food research community, as we have always done in the field of respiratory allergy.