Abstract
Allergen-specific immunotherapy represents the only causative approach towards allergy treatment. Conventional immunotherapy reduces symptoms and medication requirements in allergic rhinitis and asthma but its use is limited by the risk of adverse effects and the inconvenience of the prolonged course of therapy. However, immunotherapy seems to have the potential to alter the natural course of allergic diseases by preventing onset of new sensitization and progression from rhinitis to asthma. Novel approaches to immunotherapy currently being explored include the use of new adjuvants, such as immunostimulatory DNA sequences, and the use of allergen-derived peptides, or modified recombinant allergen, with the aim to reduce IgE-mediated side effects during immunotherapy and to foster certain advantageous immunogenicity. This article reviews the development of immunotherapy, our current understanding of its mechanisms of action and its future prospects.
