New methods of prevention and treatment of allergic diseases

Over the past decades, the increasing number of patients with allergic conditions has posed a heavy burden on health care systems worldwide. This article will review recent treatments and patented methods for preventing allergies and related inflammatory and immunologic diseases. New drugs are commonly directed to known mechanisms, but there are many other pathways on which drugs can exert their action. New drug development is expected in the future as a consequence of discoveries in the pathophysiology and mechanisms of these diseases. Pharmaceuticals which would prevent the development of atopic diseases could allow us treating patients with genetic or environmental risk factors according to their conditions. Currently, a good and effective set of treatments is available for these diseases. However, the search for new treatment modalities to improve the currently available is especially important for those patients unresponsive to current therapy. In this review, we summarize anti-cytokines therapies, Toll-like receptor (TLR)-mediated treatments, antiimmunoglobulin molecules, new immunomodulatory treatments and new antihistamines. The use of probiotics remains a matter of discussion and debate, since available studies have had contradictory results. In the present article, we discuss current treatments for atopic diseases such as extrinsic asthma, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis and relevant patents.