Use of peptides in allergen-specific immunotherapy: Today and tomorrow

Asthma is mainly a chronic inflammatory allergic disease. One of the key treatments for this condition, allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT), consists of desensitizing the allergic patient to the specific allergen to which he/she is sensitized. AIT is based on the administration of allergenic extracts produced by different methods. At present, such extracts still have unequal composition and efficiency. The use of molecular biology techniques has led to the availability of a panel of recombinant allergens in large quantities and with excellent purity. However, AIT is still not entirely safe, and a number of research teams are developing different strategies to improve it, such as new therapeutic approaches (e.g., DNA vaccination, cell therapy, etc.), the use of different routes of administration, and the preparation of allergens with immunogenicity but without allergenicity. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson. SAS. All rights reserved.