%0 Journal Article
%T Respiratory Allergies: A General Overview of Remedies, Delivery Systems, and the Need to Progress
%A Giuliano Molinari
%A Giselda Colombo
%A Cinzia Celenza
%J ISRN Allergy
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/326980
%X The spread of respiratory allergies is increasing in parallel with the alarm of the scientific community. Evidently, our knowledge of the onset mechanisms of these diseases and, as a consequence, of the available remedies is inadequate. This review provides a brief, general description of current therapeutic resources and the state of research with regard to both drugs and medical devices in order to highlight their limits and the urgent need for progress. Increasing the amount of basic biochemical research will improve our knowledge of such onset mechanisms and the potential efficacy of therapeutic preparations. 1. Introduction It is known that allergic rhinitis (AR) is mainly induced by an IgE-mediated response and shares many features with allergic asthma (AA). AR is often associated with sinusitis or other comorbidities such as conjunctivitis [1¨C4] and precedes AA. AR and AA not only have a common biochemical onset but, to some extent, also have common remedies. The interdependence between morbidities of the upper and lower airways is now known under the concept of ¡°united airways¡± and the need for the concomitant treatment of these diseases is recognized. The IgE-mediated response is not a unique mechanism of allergic reaction onset; other less known mechanisms exist. In fact, five years ago, the ARIA group of experts wrote [5] ¡°allergen-specific IgE, synthesized in response to allergens in the environment, becomes fixed to Fc¦ÅRI on the membranes of mast cells and basophils; this aggregation results in the production of mediators (histamine, leukotrienes and others) that produce the allergic response; however a direct non-IgE-dependent mechanism also exists and the relative importance of non-IgE to IgE-mediated mechanisms is undetermined.¡± At present, we know somewhat more [6¨C21] and research is proceeding in many directions. Long-term birth cohort studies are underway [22] to assess both the genetic and environmental determinants of allergic responses. Several guidelines are available for the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of these diseases [23¨C26], but despite the considerable effort made in studying new remedies, which are proposed in many different pharmaceutical forms as described in the central part of this review, the number of allergic patients is growing, especially with respect to children and young adults. As a consequence, the need to make progress is increasingly evident. In the last two years, several proposals/requests have been presented with respect to research, the development, regulation, and utilization of therapeutic
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.allergy/2014/326980/