IFN-λ and IgE-mediated allergic disease: a potential future role?

Reduced early microbial exposure has become a leading candidate to explain the rise in allergic disease, and research has focused on studying the interaction between the developing immune system and the microbial environment. However, despite intense interest, the pathways that lead to dysregulation of the immune system in allergic disease are still poorly understood. The newly described type III IFN-λ molecules were initially shown to exhibit antiviral activity, but these molecules are also likely to have an important role to play in the immune-epithelial interface, given their immunomodulatory functions and restricted receptor expression to immune and epithelial cells. Previous studies on the role of IFN-λ in allergic disease have been limited to allergic asthma. More recently, a genetic variation flanking IL28B encoding IFN-λ3 has been associated with allergic disease. Here, we examine this family and suggest how IFN-λ may be an important player in allergic disease.