Hitting the mucosal road in tolerance induction

Within the last decades a dramatic increase in allergic diseases has been recognized in the Westernized societies, leading to the fact that meanwhile 25-30% of the population is afflicted by allergic disorders. Besides a hereditary disposition, other factors, including a reduced microbial contact early in life or changes in nutrition, might also have influenced this epidemiological development. So far the only causative treatment against type-I allergies is specific immunotherapy. In young and monosensitized patients this treatment is highly efficacious, while there are clear limitations in older or multisensitized patients. Allergy research therefore aims at establishing new and more efficacious treatment strategies in prophylactic as well as therapeutic settings. Our research programs focus on the development of novel allergy vaccines based on the induction of mucosal tolerance. In different mouse models of respiratory allergy mucosal treatment with genetically engineered allergen constructs proved to prevent the development of allergic mono- and multisensitivities. The additional use of mucosal adjuvants seems particularly important to improve therapeutic treatment approaches. Recent studies on the inverse relation of certain parasite infections and the development of allergy prompted us to search for selected parasitic molecules with immunosuppressive properties as potential adjuvant systems for novel allergy vaccines. An overview of our recent studies will be given.