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Allergen-specific immunotherapy appears beneficial for childhood asthma

Allergen-specific immunotherapy should be used more in the clinical practice of atopic asthma in children, according to recent study data published in Expert Review of Vaccines.

Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only known curative treatment for atopic asthma, usually leading to a decrease in asthma symptoms and medicine score, researchers wrote. Other treatment methods such as probiotics, anti-immunoglobulin E and leukotrienes, antibodies and recombinant forms have been tested but failed to produce results. Immunotherapy works by causing apoptosis or anergy of the atopic asthma Th2 phenotype and spurring immune-regulatory responses and deviation toward Th1.

Sensitization, allergy vaccine, route of administration and treatment schedules may affect the safety and efficacy of allergen-specific immunotherapy, and frequent adverse effects are local swelling, erythema and pruritus. However, researchers wrote that immunotherapy may be more cost-effective and may continue to be beneficial after treatment has ended.

“Further studies are awaited to improve current knowledge regarding the mechanisms behind [allergen-specific immunotherapy] … for children with asthma,” researchers wrote.