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Use of Component-Resolved Diagnosis (CRD) for Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT)

  • Specific Immunotherapy (L Cox, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Opinion statement

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is presently the only treatment able to modify the natural history of respiratory allergic disease. The essential condition for AIT to be effective is that the right allergen(s) is/are administered. The proportion of allergic patients showing multiple sensitizations to distinct airborne allergen sources has dramatically increased during the last decades, and this fact, along with the frequent co-recognition of highly cross-reacting pollen panallergens (i.e., profilin and polcalcin), may make a correct diagnosis virtually impossible by using the traditional allergen extracts for diagnosis. Many purified recombinant or natural allergens are currently available for the in vitro diagnosis of respiratory allergy. These represent an invaluable tool to prevent the inclusion of inappropriate allergens in AIT extracts, and the present article provides some suggestions for their rational use in everyday clinical practice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ambulatorio Di Allergologia, Clinica San Carlo, Via Ospedale 21, 20037, Paderno Dugnano, MI, Italy

    Riccardo Asero MD

  2. UOC Immunologia Clinica A, Policlinico Umberto I, Università di Roma la Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    Giuseppe Barilaro MD & Elena Pinter MD

Authors
  1. Riccardo Asero MD
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  2. Giuseppe Barilaro MD
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  3. Elena Pinter MD
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Correspondence to Riccardo Asero MD.

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Dr. Riccardo Asero declares that he has no conflict of interest. Dr. Giuseppe Barilaro declares that he has no conflict. Dr. Elena Pinter declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Specific Immunotherapy

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Asero, R., Barilaro, G. & Pinter, E. Use of Component-Resolved Diagnosis (CRD) for Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT). Curr Treat Options Allergy 3, 85–92 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40521-016-0069-1

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