Prospects for peptide-based immunotherapy for dog allergy

Abstract

Tolerance to ubiquitous environmental substances, allergens, can be accomplished with specific immunotherapy. Conducting therapy with allergen peptides helps to avoid immediate allergic reactions. Dogs are a source of important indoor allergens, which necessitates the development of effective modes of therapy against the allergy they cause. The human T-cell epitopes of the major dog allergen Can f 1 were determined recently. They were found to be distributed in seven epitope regions along the molecule. For the peptide immunotherapy of dog allergy, using a pool of seven peptides, one from each of the epitope regions of Can f 1, seems at present to be the best approach. As Can f 1 is not as immunodominant as the main allergens of some other mammals, it remains to be seen whether peptides from other dog allergens should be included in the pool. The use of a pool of seven peptides from the T-cell epitope regions of Can f 1 is likely to be feasible for treating dog allergy in a great majority of Caucasian populations. In the future, patient-tailored preparations of variants of the T-cell epitope-containing peptides may offer a way to enhance the efficacy of peptide-based immunotherapy.