Intralymphatic immunotherapy for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Allergology
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Intralymphatic immunotherapy (ILIT) represents a novel administration route for allergen-specific immunotherapy.
• Existing data on ILIT's efficacy is limited to a few studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the short-term, medium-term, and long-term effects of ILIT in patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC).
• To assess various outcomes including symptom scores, quality of life, and immunological markers.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review and meta-analysis of eleven randomized controlled trials and two cohort studies involving 483 participants.
• Evaluation of outcomes such as combined symptom and medication scores (CSMS), visual analog scale (VAS), quality of life (QOL), specific IgG4, specific IgE, and adverse events.

Main Results:

• Short-term ILIT for seasonal ARC improved CSMS and VAS, and increased specific IgG4, but did not impact QOL or specific IgE.
• Medium-term effects showed improvement in VAS.
• No clinical benefits were observed for perennial ARC, and long-term data is currently unavailable.

Conclusions:

• ILIT demonstrates short-term efficacy for seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.
• The sustained benefits of ILIT require further investigation with longer follow-up studies.
• ILIT was found to be safe and well-tolerated in the studied population.