Skin as an immune organ and clinical applications of skin-based immunotherapy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The prevalence of food allergy is increasing, and allergen avoidance continues to be the main standard of care. There is a critical need for safe and effective forms of immunotherapy for patients with food allergy as well as other allergic diseases.

Findings

The skin is a multifunctional organ with unique immunologic properties, making it a favorable administration route for allergen-specific immunotherapy. Epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) takes advantage of the skin's immune properties to modulate allergic responses and is thus one of the allergen-specific immunotherapy approaches currently being investigated for food allergy. Advances made in the understanding of how epicutaneously applied proteins interact with the immune system and in the technology for facil

SUBMITTER: Bird JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6284278 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature