How molecular diagnosis may modify immunotherapy prescription in multi-sensitized pollen-allergic children

Specific immunotherapy (SIT) is used to treat asthma and allergic rhinitis, and a dose-response relationship has been found for SIT efficacy, creating a need to accurately select the allergen used in therapy. This need is especially pronounced in poly-sensitized children living in areas where different pollen allergen sources coexist in the same season, as this circumstance complicates diagnostic efforts. In such cases, component-resolved diagnosis (CRD) can increase diagnostic accuracy and aid in SIT prescription.

We hypothesized that CRD results would lead to modifications in classical immunotherapy prescription based on sources such as medical history, season of symptom presentation, and skin testing. We studied a sample of children indicated for immunotherapy in whom classical methods had not pointed out the most relevant allergen due to sensitization to more than two pollens. We used a small panel of recombinant allergens, analyzing the percentage of changes to prescription considering the findings of molecular studies.

Of the 70 children included, CRD led to modified immunotherapy prescription in 54.3%. Indications of single-allergen therapy increased from 18% to 51% when CRD was included. The decision to prescribe immunotherapy was reversed following CRD in 9.3% of cases.

CRD use alters the choice of specific immunotherapy in poly-sensitized children. A wide panel of recombinant allergens may not be necessary to improve immunotherapy indication using molecular techniques; rather, a smaller panel adapted to include those allergens prevalent in the geographical area in question appears to be sufficient for more effective immunotherapy, also leading to an improved cost-benefit ratio.