Allergen specific CD4+ T cell clones generated from allergic individuals have been shown to produce increased levels of the cytokine interleukin 4 (IL-4), compared to allergen specific clones generated from nonallergic individuals. This difference between CD4+ T cells from allergic and nonallergic individuals with regard to cytokine production in response to allergen is thought to be responsibl...

Allergen immunotherapy reorients inappropriate immune responses in allergic patients. Sublingual allergen immunotherapy (SLIT) has been approved, notably in the European Union, as an effective alternative to subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) for allergic rhinitis patients. Compared with SCIT, SLIT has a better safety profile. This is possibly because oral antigen-presenting cells (most...

PURPOSE The clinical efficacy of allergen-immunotherapy is known to be dose dependent. However, optimal maintenance dosage has not yet been determined for sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). Furthermore, since companies adopt their own units for expression of allergenicity, the allergen concentrations of individual reagents cannot be compared easily. We sought to measure and compare the allergenic...

Clinical trials of intralymphatic immunotherapy (ILIT) have been performed to overcome the limitations of long-term therapy and the local or systemic hypersensitivity reactions in conventional allergen-specific immunotherapy, including subcutaneous or sublingual immunotherapy. Additionally, several animal studies of ILIT have been conducted in the form of translational or veterinary research. W...

BACKGROUND Subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT) has an early onset of action, whereas repeated injections and safety concerns have limited its use in the pediatric age group. Meanwhile, the improved safety profile of the sublingual route has been accepted as an alternative despite its relatively late onset of action. OBJECTIVE We sought to improve the efficacy and safety of SIT ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The present review updates current findings on long-term clinical and immunological outcomes after cessation of allergen immunotherapy for allergic respiratory disease. RECENT FINDINGS Recent studies have shown that allergen immunotherapy has sustained disease-modifying effects that persist for years after discontinuation. This is in contrast to the effects of antiallergic d...

Allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and allergic asthma have been steadily increasing in prevalence in recent years. These allergic diseases have a major impact on quality of life and are a major economic burden in the US. Although allergen avoidance and pharmacotherapy are currently the mainstays of therapy, they are not always successful in treating patients' symptoms effectively. If ...

BACKGROUND Over the last 100 years, several persistent misconceptions or 'false beliefs' have built up around allergen immunotherapy and its use in allergic rhinitis. This is perhaps because enthusiastic physicians administered complex allergen extracts to a diverse population of patients suffering from heterogeneous atopic conditions. Here, we review evidence that counters seven of these 'fals...

Background: Synbiotics have been used in the prevention and treatment of various immunological diseases. We aimed to investigate the synergistic clinical and immunologic effects of synbiotics and subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy (SCIT) combination in patients with allergic rhinitis. Materials and Methods: Nineteen individuals with all...

AIM A double-blind placebo-controlled study was conducted according to EMA guidelines, to evaluate safety, tolerability and short-term treatment effects of three updosing regimens of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy. PATIENTS & METHODS Forty-eight patients were randomized to groups: A (six weekly doses), B (eight weekly doses) or C (eight doses, two clustered...