The utsw research project will investigate immunoglobulin e (IGE) glycosylation to replace the oral food challenge test

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center received a $392,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), awarded August 1, 2025, with a completion date of July 31, 2028. Under the direction of Principal Investigator Dr. Jeff Sorelle, the project will investigate immunoglobulin E (IgE) glycosylation as a potential replacement diagnostic for the oral food challenge test in food allergy assessment. Current IgE cut-off levels lack reliability and cannot effectively predict immunotherapy response, necessitating invasive oral food challenges to confirm allergic reactivity.

The research deliverables include three primary aims: (1) analytical validation of an IgE glycan test using mass spectrometry or alternative methodology; (2) establishment of IgE-glycosylation cut-off values predictive of allergic reactivity; and (3) clinical validation of IgE-glycosylation as a biomarker across broadly representative populations, including cohorts treated with peanut oral immunotherapy and control cohorts without peanut allergy. This translational research project bridges basic science discoveries regarding post-translational glycosylation modifications that regulate IgE anaphylactic potential with clinical diagnostic validation, with the ultimate goal of providing a non-invasive, predictive biomarker for food allergy management and immunotherapy response assessment.

IGE cut-off levels are unclear (can be falsely positive) and while immunotherapy responders decrease their IGE, sige does not reliably predict response, so food challenges must be performed. Recent work has demonstrated post-translational modifications in the form of glycosylation regulates the anaphylactic potential of IGE and could explain this disconnect. However, this observation warrants deeper investigation and clinical validation in a food allergy trial to determine if IGE glycosylation can predict allergic reactivity. This goal will be pursued by jeff sorelle MD, a physician scientist (PI), whose basic science research of IGE has led him to study the impact of IGE glycosylation on allergies. His medical training is in validating clinical diagnostics and has assembled a team experienced in through the following aims: aim 1: analytically validate an IGE glycan test (by mass-spec or alternative method), aim 2: establish IGE-glycosylation cut-off for allergic reactivity, and clinically validate IGE-glycosylation as a biomarker on a broadly representative populationfrom cohorts treated with peanut oral immunotherapy or control cohorts without peanut allergy.