Allergic rhinitis allergen immunotherapy

In allergen immunotherapy, specific allergen extracts (also called allergen vaccines) are administered in order to modify or eliminate allergic rhinitis symptoms. 

American Academy of Pediatrics allergen immunotherapy allergic rhinitis central nervous system histamine-1 receptor antagonist immunoglobulin E over the counter perennial allergic rhinitis seasonal allergic rhinitis... 

Passalacqua G. 2007. Allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma update. Allergen immunotherapy. 

Immunotherapy Allergic rhinitis Iposensitization Allergen specific Prophylaxis... 

Ohashi Y, Nakai Y, Sakamoto H, Ohno Y, Sugiura Y, Okamoto H, Tanaka A, Kakinoki Y, Kishimoto K, Hayashi M Serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis before and after immunotherapy. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 1996 77 203-208. Ohashi Y, Nakai Y, Tanaka A, Kakinoki Y, Washio Y, Kato A, Masamoto T, Sakamoto H, Yamada K Ten-year follow-up study of allergen-specific immunoglobulin E and immunoglobulin G4, soluble interleukin-2 receptor, interleukin-4, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in serum of patients on immunotherapy for perennial allergic rhinitis. Scand J Immunol 1998 47 167-178. 

The treatment of allergic rhinitis combines allergen avoidance (when possible), pharmacotherapy and immunotherapy. 

The effectiveness of immunotherapy for seasonal allergic rhinitis appears to be better than that seen with perennial rhinitis, in part because it is more difficult to determine which allergen is responsible for perennial symptoms, and it is more due to multiple sensitizations. Effectiveness has been shown in a number of clinical studies using a variety of pollen extracts, even in patients with severe disease resistant to pharmacotherapy." " Specific immunotherapy for house dust mites has had good results in appropriately selected patients, while several studies have described marked improvement in patients with allergy to cats. Data indicate that in some patients 3 years of immunotherapy may be sufficient to give lasting benefit." ... 

Allergen immunotherapy is the intermittent administration of gradually increasing quantities of specific allergen by subcutaneous (SQ) injection to an allergic patient. After the buildup phase, intermittent SQ injections effectively reduce rhinitis symptoms upon reexposure to the specific allergen. 

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