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Review
. 2018 Jun 9;18(7):39.
doi: 10.1007/s11882-018-0790-x.

Next-Generation of Allergen-Specific Immunotherapies: Molecular Approaches

Mirela Curin  1 , Musa Khaitov  2 , Alexander Karaulov  3 , Leyla Namazova-Baranova  4 , Raffaela Campana  1 , Victoria Garib  1   5 , Rudolf Valenta  6   7   8
Affiliations
Review

Next-Generation of Allergen-Specific Immunotherapies: Molecular Approaches

Mirela Curin et al. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: The aim of this article is to discuss how allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) can be improved through molecular approaches. We provide a summary of next-generation molecular AIT approaches and of their clinical evaluation. Furthermore, we discuss the potential of next generation molecular AIT forms for the treatment of severe manifestations of allergy and mention possible future molecular strategies for the secondary and primary prevention of allergy.

Recent findings: AIT has important advantages over symptomatic forms of allergy treatment but its further development is limited by the quality of the therapeutic antigen preparations which are derived from natural allergen sources. The field of allergy diagnosis is currently undergoing a dramatic improvement through the use of molecular testing with defined, mainly recombinant allergens which allows high-resolution diagnosis. Several studies demonstrate that molecular testing in early childhood can predict the development of symptomatic allergy later on in life. Clinical studies indicate that molecular AIT approaches have the potential to improve therapy of allergic diseases and may be used as allergen-specific forms of secondary and eventually primary prevention for allergy.

Keywords: Allergen; Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT); Allergen-specific prevention of allergy; Allergy; Hypoallergens; Molecular allergology; Peptide-carrier vaccine; Peptides; Recombinant allergen.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Rudolf Valenta has received research grants from Biomay, Vienna, Austria, and Viravaxx, Vienna, Austria, and serves as a consultant for both companies. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Time line showing some highlights of AIT toward molecular AIT
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Molecular strategies for AIT
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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