Immunome Research
Open Access

Abstract

House Dust Mite Allergy and Associated Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy in Allergic Asthma

Hsu-Chung Liu, Hsiao-Ling Chen and Chuan-Mu Chen

Allergic asthma, an important subtype of asthma endotypes, is characterized by allergen-specific and Th2 cellmediated airway inflammation. Except for pharmacologic treatment, Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) has also been considered as a potential therapy for allergic asthma. House dust mite (HDM) is a common airborne allergen among patients with allergic asthma. This review is focused on the relationship between HDM allergy and allergic asthma, underlying mechanism of ASIT, and current evidence of HDM-specific immunotherapy for allergic asthma. It was demonstrated that HDM allergy is a risk factor associated with disease development of allergic asthma. The induction of immune tolerance by regulatory T cells was proved to play a pivotal role in the immunological mechanisms of ASIT. Experimental studies in murine models of allergic asthma reveal that HDM-specific immunotherapy has not only therapeutic efficacy but also preventive potential for disease development. The clinical trials also demonstrated the efficacy of HDM-specific immunotherapy in reducing asthma symptoms and medication use. Today, the clinical application of ASIT in allergic asthma has limitation when considering the extent of benefit and systemic adverse reactions. Although sublingual immunotherapy with HDM extract was demonstrated to have better safety profile when comparing with subcutaneous immunotherapy. To make HDM-specific immunotherapy more practicable in
clinical application, further advances in the development of immunotherapy and clinical trials are needed.