[Immunotherapy of allergic manifestations]

The Authors, after outlining the epidemiologic role of the allergic disorders, which places them among the pathologies covered by the wide chapter of social diseases, deal with the immunogenetic aspects and the particular conditions of the atopic habitus, atopic condition and atopic disease. The latest trends of antigen non specific immunotherapy, with the relevant possibility of eliciting a non specific suppressive mechanism of the IgE response, are considered. The antigen specific immunotherapy is then discussed under its various aspects: prophylaxis, efficacy, indications, modalities of treatment, unwanted reactions, immunological modifications, possible causes of its failure, medico-legal problems relevant to such therapy. Finally, the latest perspectives in the field of specific immunotherapy are envisaged, such as the use of allergoid vaccines, of liposomes as immunoadjuvants or the stimulation and the induction of suppressive factors of the IgE response.