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Review
. 2018 Jun;10(7):579-593.
doi: 10.2217/imt-2017-0138. Epub 2018 Mar 23.

Impact of allergen immunotherapy in allergic asthma

Wenming Zhang  1 , Chunrong Lin  1 , Vanitha Sampath  1 , Kari Nadeau  1
Affiliations
Review

Impact of allergen immunotherapy in allergic asthma

Wenming Zhang et al. Immunotherapy. 2018 Jun.

Abstract

Although traditional pharmacological approaches improve outcomes in disease management for allergic asthma, these fail to modify the underlying immune responses. Allergen immunotherapy remains the only etiological therapy for the treatment of respiratory allergies for which clinical efficacy has been demonstrated through several well-controlled studies. In this review, we examine evidence from the past 5 years regarding the impact of allergen immunotherapy on allergic asthma to inform practitioners and stimulate further discussion and research.

Keywords: allergen immunotherapy (AIT); allergic asthma; mechanisms; omalizumab; subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT); sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT).

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by NIH grant U19AI104209, the Bezos Family Foundation, the FARE Center of Excellence, the Myra Reinhard Foundation and the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

<b>Figure 1.</b>
Figure 1.. Overview of immunological effects during allergen immunotherapy.
The balance between T helper 2 cells and regulatory T cells is crucial for the development or suppression of allergic inflammation. Blue arrows represent the regulatory effects of regulatory T cells which counteract the proinflammatory and activating effects of the T helper 2 cells as represented by the pink arrows.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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