Protein-based Strategies of Molecular Therapy in Allergy

The increasing knowledge concerning pathomechanism of hypersensitivity reactions enabled development of new strategies of allergy treatment. Since the molecular background of allergy includes some, still poorly defined, abnormalities in immunoregulatory cytokines network, the successful treatment should restore proper cytokine balance. Therefore, numerous studies concerning administration of missing cytokines or inhibition of excessive one have been undertaken. The possibilities to use IgE- and cytokine-neutralizing antibodies as well as soluble cytokine receptors are discussed in this review. Moreover, attempts to create various mutant cytokines that competitively block cytokine-receptor binding have been detaily described. Although majority of clinical trials analyzing those novel treatment approaches are not finished yet, the evaluation of their preliminary results suggests potential clinical usefulness of such treatment. Obviously, these molecular methods still require further studies, nevertheless, they could be considered as novel standard in allergy treatment pretty soon.