Allergen Immunotherapy for Allergic Diseases
Summary
Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) encompasses medical interventions designed to induce long-term tolerance to specific allergens by administering gradually increasing doses of the offending substance. Introduced more than a century ago, AIT remains the only disease-modifying treatment for IgE-mediated disorders such as allergic rhinitis, asthma and venom hypersensitivity. Two principal administration routes—subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT)—have been refined to improve extract standardisation, optimise dosing regimens and mitigate adverse events. By shifting immune responses away from pathogenic type 2 inflammation towards regulatory pathways, AIT can reduce symptom burden, decrease pharmacological requirements and confer lasting protection after cessation of therapy. Longitudinal studies have also demonstrated preventive effects against the development of new sensitizations and progression from mild allergic manifestations to asthma. Despite robust evidence of efficacy and cost-effectiveness, AIT remains under-utilised in many regions owing to logistical constraints, variable product availability and inconsistent clinician training. Ongoing efforts in clinical research and practice guidelines aim to harmonise patient selection criteria, enhance safety monitoring and expand indications to areas such as food allergy and atopic dermatitis.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Allergen Immunotherapy for Allergic Diseases publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in allergen immunotherapy for allergic diseases across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Allergen immunotherapy (AIT): Therapeutic administration of gradually increasing quantities of allergenic extracts to induce clinical tolerance and modify disease course.
Subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT): Injection of allergen extracts into the subcutaneous tissue to elicit immune tolerance.
Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT): Delivery of allergen extracts under the tongue to induce immunomodulation with a favourable safety profile.
Type 2 inflammation: Immune response driven by T-helper 2 cells, characterised by interleukins IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and IgE-mediated mechanisms.
Specific IgE (sIgE): Immunoglobulin E antibodies that recognise and bind to defined allergenic proteins.
Depigmented-polymerized allergen extracts (DPAE): Chemically modified allergen preparations with reduced allergenicity and preserved immunogenicity used to improve safety and efficacy of immunotherapy.
References
- Augmented type 2 inflammatory response in allergic rhinitis patients experiencing systemic reactions to house dust mite subcutaneous immunotherapy. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (2024).
- Allergen-specific immunotherapy. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology (2018).
- Subcutaneous immunotherapy with depigmented‐polymerized allergen extracts: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Clinical and Translational Allergy (2019).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.