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Enrolling by invitationNCT01832324Updated Sep 21, 2026

Molecular Basis of Food Allergy

An observational study in Food Allergy and Eosinophilic Esophagitis, sponsored by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Enrolling by invitation at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 1 Month to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-21.

Sponsored by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Case-control
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
5,300
Ages
1 Month to 65 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The Study examines the molecular basis of food allergy. It explores the interaction between T cells, InKT cells, basophils and cytokines in the development of food allergy. The study also explores these factors in development of tolerance "outgrowing" food allergy. It will also explore the genetic factors that lead to the development of food allergy.

The study examines all type of food allergy including IgE mediated reactions, Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis

Read the detailed description

Food Allergy (FA) is a common pediatric atopic disease. Characteristically children affected by FA become sensitized to food in the first few months of life and spontaneously outgrow the disease by 5-6 years of age in about 80% of cases. At the present time, diagnosis of FA is made by a combination of history, skin testing and food challenge. The pathogenic mechanisms leading to food sensitization and subsequent spontaneous tolerance development are not understood.

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Conditions studied

  • Food Allergy
  • Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Keywords

  • Food Allergy
  • Eosinophilic Esophagitis
  • Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis
  • iNKT Cells
  • T cells
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In context

Food Hypersensitivity

376 studies on the registry are indexed under Food Hypersensitivity; 90 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 5,300 is above the median of 151 across 120 observational studies indexed under Food Hypersensitivity.

Browse Food Hypersensitivity studies →

Lead sponsor

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is the lead sponsor of 489 studies on the registry; 90 are open to participants now.

Of its 28 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 22 (79%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
1 Month to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Probability sample

Study population

Food Allergy (Both IgE and Non-IgE Mediated) Atopic Controls Healthy controls

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria for Study Group:

  1. Males or females age 1 month to 65 years.
  2. Diagnosis of Food Allergy. Food Allergy can be either IgE or non-IgE mediated food allergy including Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis.

Inclusion Criteria for Control group:

  1. Age and sex matched patients without food allergies
  2. Sibling and parents of patients with food allergies

Inclusion Criteria for Control group with atopy:

  1. Age and sex matched patients without food allergies
  2. Sibling and parents of patients with food allergies
  3. Patients with atopy

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Underlying disease or medical problem that is judged to serious or risky to allow 3 ml/kg of blood to be drawn from a vein (such as serious anemia, cancer, poor vein abscess, serious infections).
  2. Subjects that do not meet the enrollment criteria may not be enrolled. Any violations of these criteria will be reported in accordance with Institutional Review Board (IRB) policies and procedures study procedures.
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Study design

Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
5,300 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No
Biospecimen retention
Samples with dna
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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Blood sample for mechanistic studies:

    Blood will be obtained by venipuncture. The blood samples will be used to estimate the frequency of to estimate the frequency and the products of cells involved in the allergic reaction. We will quantify the number of lymphocytes and their subsets, and the number granulocytes (neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils) and monocytes and we will analyze their products (such as cytokines, chemokines, prostanoids). Such analysis will be performed doing cytoflow studies, using 4 color flow cytometry (BD FACSCalibur Flow XCytometry System) at the Children's Hospital Flow Cytometry core facilities, ELISA, mRNA analysis and western blots using when indicated the Nucleic Acid/Protein Core. If blood won't be all used up in the aforementioned tests it will be stored in nitrogen liquid for future similar tests or repetition of the ones already performed in case of technical problem with the first attempt.

    Time frame: 1 year

  2. Blood sample for genetic study (optional)

    The Center for Applied Genomics (CAG) will perform genetic analysis. All subjects (cases and controls) have been or will be genotyped on the Illumina HumanHap BeadArray SNP platform, and data has been stored in following an IRB approved protocol Whole Exon Sequencing (also known as targeted exome capture) is an efficient strategy to selectively sequence the coding regions of the genome as a cheaper but still effective alternative to whole genome sequencing. Exons are short, functionally important sequences of DNA which represent the regions in genes that are translated into protein and the untranslated region flanking them (UTR). It is estimated that the protein coding regions of the human genome constitute about 85% of the disease-causing mutations. Statistical analysis will be done in conjunction with CAG and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) bioinformatics center. We will compare the genetic variants identified between sequencing and SNPs -based genotyping.

    Time frame: 1 year

  3. EndoPat Test (optional)

    EndoPat is a noninvasive endothelial function assessment. Patient should rest comfortably for 10 minutes prior to the test. Using a standard blood pressure cuff, the brachial artery is occluded for a 5 minute period. When the cuff is released, EndoPat measures blood flow rates pre-occlusion and post-occlusion. This test requires patients to sit still for 15 minutes. It's recommended that the patient fast 3 to 8 hours before the test. In addition, the following drugs should not be used for 24 hours before testing: Nitroglycerine, Alpha-blockers, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, Statins

    Time frame: 1 year

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Study locations

1 site
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References and documents

Publications

  • Ruffner MA, Zhang Z, Maurer K, Muir AB, Cianferoni A, Sullivan KE, Spergel JM. RNA sequencing identifies global transcriptional changes in peripheral CD4+ cells during active oesophagitis and following epicutaneous immunotherapy in eosinophilic oesophagitis. Clin Transl Immunology. 2021 Jul 22;10(7):e1314. doi: 10.1002/cti2.1314. eCollection 2021. PubMed 34322233 ↗
  • Dilollo J, Rodriguez-Lopez EM, Wilkey L, Martin EK, Spergel JM, Hill DA. Peripheral markers of allergen-specific immune activation predict clinical allergy in eosinophilic esophagitis. Allergy. 2021 Nov;76(11):3470-3478. doi: 10.1111/all.14854. Epub 2021 May 14. PubMed 33840099 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Deidentiifed data including specific IgE, results of basophil assay and what individual food that the patient is reacting to will be included.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 21, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01832324
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Apr 16, 2013
Start date
Jan 2011
Primary completion
Nov 2030 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 2031 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 21, 2026

Study contacts

Jonathan M Spergel, MD, PhD
principal investigator · Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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