1. Production of allergen-specific immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of food allergy
- Author
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Claus Heiner Bang-Berthelsen, Jeppe Madura Larsen, Katrine Lindholm Bøgh, Sonnich Sunil Nørtoft Thacker, Julia Upton, Kasper Ivert Hentzer Andersen, Thomas Eiwegger, Katrine Qvortrup, Ana Isabel Sancho, and Anders Højgaard Hansen
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Allergy ,Food Handling ,medicine.medical_treatment ,medicine.disease_cause ,01 natural sciences ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Allergen ,Food allergy ,010608 biotechnology ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,business.industry ,General Medicine ,Immunotherapy ,Allergens ,medicine.disease ,Recombinant Proteins ,Biotechnology ,Clinical trial ,Desensitization, Immunologic ,Food processing ,Clinical safety ,Peptides ,business ,Food Hypersensitivity - Abstract
Allergen-specific immunotherapy (IT) is emerging as a viable avenue for the treatment of food allergies. Clinical trials currently investigate raw or slightly processed foods as therapeutic agents, as trials using food-grade agents can be performed without the strict regulations to which conventional drugs are subjected. However, this limits the ability of standardization and may affect clinical trial outcomes and reproducibility. Herein, we provide an overview of methods used in the production of immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of food allergies, including processed foods, allergen extracts, recombinant allergens, and synthetic peptides, as well as the physical and chemical processes for the reduction of protein allergenicity. Commercial interests currently favor producing standardized drug-grade allergen extracts for therapeutic use, and clinical trials are ongoing. In the near future, recombinant production could replace purification strategies since it allows the manufacturing of pure, native allergens or sequence-modified allergens with reduced allergenicity. A recurring issue within this field is the inadequate reporting of production procedures, quality control, product physicochemical characteristics, allergenicity, and immunological properties. This information is of vital importance in assessing therapeutic standardization and clinical safety profile, which are central parameters for the development of future therapeutic agents.
- Published
- 2020
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