SPIREs: a new horizon for allergic disease treatment?

Abstract

Allergic diseases are common and specific immunotherapy provides a therapeutic approach. Specific immunotherapy has its limits, as whole allergen extracts are used. These may contain proteins that patients might not be sensitized to. A required long-term treatment (3–5 years) might activate a potential risk of IgE-mediated severe allergic reactions. A new promising therapeutic approach is to apply short synthetic T-cell peptides. Such synthetic peptides consist of immunoregulatory epitopes (SPIREs) that are 13–17 amino acids in length. Recent clinical data, derived from chamber studies, suggest a clinical efficacy with a good tolerability of SPIREs.

Keywords:

• allergy
• IgG4
• mechanism
• specific immunotherapy
• synthetic peptides

Financial & competing interests disclosure

M Worm received consulting honoraria from Circassia Ltd. and was the principal investigator of the Phase II clinical study Cat-PAD (EudraCT Number 2007–002715-11), sponsored by Circassia Ltd. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.