Dermatophagoides spp. hypoallergens design: what has been achieved so far?

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Allergic illnesses are one of the most prevalent immunological disorders worldwide and house dust mites are important triggers of these diseases. Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is an alternative treatment to pharmacotherapy and among its technologies, recombinant hypoallergenic derivatives have shown promising features, turn them into safer and more efficient allergy vaccines.

Areas covered: Patents and scientific publications referring to advances in the design of Dermatophagoides spp. hypoallergenic molecules. Data were obtained from the Espacenet® and PubMed websites, using different key terms, advanced tools and Boolean operators for searches. The retrieved data were then descriptively analyzed, taking into consideration clinical targets, geographical, temporal, collaborative, and different classification aspects of the productions.

Expert opinion: Joint advances of molecular biology, genetic engineering, and bioinformatics technologies led to progresses in the design of Dermatophagoides spp. hypoallergenic derivatives. Collaborative networks seem to be an interesting way not only to improve technologies in AIT but also to boost the number of patents, publications, and grants for researchers. The observed trend for the use of hypoallergenic hybrid molecules was a fundamental AIT advance and this type of molecule appears to be a more attractive product for companies and more convenient, efficient, and safer allergy immunotherapy for patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Allergen-specific immunotherapy
• house dust mite
• hybrid proteins
• hypoallergens
• technology assessment

Article highlights

• Europe and Asia were the regions with the highest number of patents and articles related to Dermatophagoides spp. hypoallergens.

• Joint advances and dissemination of molecular biology, genetic engineering, and bioinformatics technologies led to progresses in the design of Dermatophagoides spp. hypoallergenic derivatives, highlighting the hybrid proteins.

• Creation of collaborative networks seems to be an interesting way not only to improve technologies in AIT but also to boost the number of publications and grants.

• Most of the retrieved patents referring to Dermatophagoides spp. hypoallergenic derivatives are pending and only two are granted.

• A trend for the use of hypoallergenic hybrid molecules was observed not only in the retrieved data but also in the reviewed literature related to AIT.

• Hypoallergenic hybrid proteins appear to be a more attractive product for companies and a more convenient, efficient, and safer allergy vaccine for patients.

Acknowledgments

ESS is recipient of a fellowship from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Grant nº. 88887.357066/2019-00. LGCP is recipient of research fellowships from National Council for Scientific and Technological Development of Brazil (CNPq).

Author contributions

E Santos da Silva conceived the study design, obtained and analyzed the data for the review. He also drafted the manuscript. NM Alcantara-Neves conceived and supervised the study design and analyses, revising the drafts critically for intellectual content. C Pinheiro and L Pacheco helped in the revising of the manuscript, suggesting analyses and critically improving the drafts. All authors have approved the version for publication.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no 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. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.