Abstract
Allergen-specific immunotherapy represents the only available curative approach to allergic diseases. The treatment has proven effective, but it requires repetitive administrations of allergen extracts over 3–5 years and is often associated with adverse events. This implies the need for novel therapeutic strategies with reduced side effects and decreased treatment time, which would improve patients’ compliance. Development of vaccines that are molecularly well defined and have improved safety profile in comparison to whole allergen extracts represents a promising approach. Molecular allergy vaccines are based on major allergen proteins or allergen-derived peptides. Often, such vaccines are associated with lower immunogenicity and stability and therefore require an appropriate delivery vehicle. In this respect, viruses, bacteria, and their protein components have been intensively studied for their adjuvant capacity. This article provides an overview of the microbial delivery vehicles that have been tested for use in allergy immunotherapy. We review in vitro and in vivo data on the immunomodulatory capacity of different microbial vehicles for allergens and allergen-derived peptides and evaluate their potential in development of allergy vaccines. We also discuss relevant aspects and challenges concerning the use of microbes and their components in immunotherapy of allergic diseases.
Highlights
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is based on the repeated administration of increasing doses of allergen extracts over 3–5 years (Akdis and Akdis, 2014)
The results showed that the titers of IgG1 specific for OVA in mice immunized with adeno-associated virus-like particles (AAVLP)-OVA were comparable to those induced by native OVA
Recombinant fusion proteins composed of VP1 and a B cell epitope peptide derived from the major grass pollen allergen Phl p 1 were not recognized by patients’ IgE and showed no allergenic activity in basophil activation test
Summary
Allergen-specific immunotherapy is based on the repeated administration of increasing doses of allergen extracts over 3–5 years (Akdis and Akdis, 2014). In the study performed by Luzar et al (2016a), the filamentous phage particles displaying mimotopes of major cat allergen Fel d 1 (approximately 150 copies fused to major coat protein pVIII) were constructed and evaluated for their potential as vehicles for a cat allergy vaccine.
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