%0 Journal Article
%T Peptide immunotherapy for childhood allergy - addressing translational challenges
%A Karen J Mackenzie
%A Stephen M Anderton
%A J¨¹rgen Schwarze
%J Clinical and Translational Allergy
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/2045-7022-1-13
%X Allergic disease including atopic eczema, allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma and food allergy causes significant patient morbidity and economic costs to healthcare systems [1,2]. Current clinical management primarily relies on allergen avoidance, treating symptoms as they arise (often using medications such as ¦Â2 agonist inhalers, antihistamines and adrenaline) and generalised suppression of immune responses (e.g. using corticosteroids). Therapeutic blockade of cytokines such as interleukin-5 (IL-5) and of IgE have had varied clinical results and such approaches are reserved for highly selected patient groups at present [3-5]. Many allergic patients will first experience symptoms during childhood [6] and allergic sensitisation may begin very early in infancy, even prenatally [7,8]. Children with atopy are at risk of developing new sensitisations and additional allergic conditions as they get older [1,9]. Identifying atopic children early and modifying disease progression is therefore a hugely attractive therapeutic goal [10].Evidence suggests a key role for CD4+ T cells, particularly the T helper (Th) 2 subset, in allergy. These cells express the transcription factor GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA-3) and can produce allergy-associated cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 which are implicated in a host of allergic responses such as eosinophil recruitment and airway hyperreactivity [reviewed in [11]]. Th2 cells also provide B cells with help, driving immunoglobulin class-switching towards allergen-specific IgE [11]. Less commonly, and often in concert with Th2 cells, other helper subsets such as Th1, Th17 and Th9 cells have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma in some patients [reviewed in [12]]. Therapeutic targeting of allergen-reactive CD4+ T cells therefore has the capacity to abrogate downstream allergic responses [11]. One way of doing this is through specific immunotherapy (SIT) which targets CD4+ T cells via the administration of protein
%K Allergy
%K Children
%K Peptide Immunotherapy
%U http://www.ctajournal.com/content/1/1/13