CONTROL OF ALLERGIC DISEASES BY NASAL IMMUNOTHERAPY WITH PEPTIDE-BASED THERAPEUTIC VACCINES

• Published in: JIBI INKOKA TEMBO Vol. 51; no. Supplement; pp. s48 - s52
• Main Authors: Nagato, Toshihiro, Harabuchi, Yasuaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Society of Oto-rhino-laryngology Tokyo 2008
• Subjects: allergen-specific immunotherapy; allergic rhinitis; nasal immunotherapy; peptide
• ISSN: 0386-9687; 1883-6429
• DOI: 10.11453/orltokyo.51.s48

Traditional subcutaneous immunotherapy using natural antigens is an efficient treatment method for allergic rhinitis. However, it may cause unwanted side effects, including anaphylaxis. Therefore, novel approaches of administering antigens, via the intranasal or sublingual route, are being developed. Indeed, clinical studies with nasal immunotherapy have already been conducted and have been shown to reduce the sensitivity to allergens. Moreover, it is speculated that peptide-based vaccines, such as defined T cell epitopes, would be safe and useful in allergen-specific immunotherapy. It is clear that desirable peptides for therapeutic vaccines should be promiscuous T cell epitopes, which would be recognized by CD4+T cells in the context of more than one MHC class II allele, allowing broad population coverage. Thus, nasal immunotherapy with peptide-based vaccines, especially promiscuous T cell epitope peptides, may be a new promising therapeutic strategy to control allergic rhinitis.