Prevention of Immunoglobulin E Production as a Therapeutic Target

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) has been known for quite some years to be critically involved in the initiation of a number of allergic diseases. Its importance as therapeutic target was confirmed and strengthened by recent evidence that neutralizing monoclonal antibodies directed against IgE showed clinical efficacy in large clinical trials with patients suffering from asthma and allergic rhinitis. These data, for the first time, confirmed the predictions made from results obtained in numerous animal studies. This contribution discusses the importance of IgE as therapeutic target in allergic diseases with special emphasis on approaches aimed at inhibiting IgE synthesis by B-lymphocytes. (c) 2002 Prous Science. All rights reserved.