Successful Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy: Induction of Unresponsiveness by 'Vaccination'

Martin F Bachmann; Monique Vogel; Daniel E Speiser

doi:10.3390/vaccines11121852

Successful Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy: Induction of Unresponsiveness by 'Vaccination'

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Dec 14;11(12):1852. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11121852.

Authors

Martin F Bachmann^{1

2

3}, Monique Vogel^{1

2}, Daniel E Speiser^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Research (DBMR), University of Bern, 3008 Bern, Switzerland.
² Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
³ Nuffield Department of Medicine, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK.
⁴ Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1066 Lausanne, Switzerland.

Abstract

The mechanisms of action of allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) are often referred to as the induction of 'tolerance'. However, immunological 'tolerance' is defined as an alteration in the function or composition of immune cells. For AIT, this is not always the case, because it can also induce allergen-specific IgG antibodies that block allergic responses. To include all possible mechanisms that may mediate successful AIT, it is advantageous to use the scientific term 'unresponsiveness' instead of 'tolerance'. In praxis, the term 'vaccination' is also appropriate, as AIT medications are specialized vaccines.

Publication types

Editorial

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation to Martin F. Bachmann (SNF grant 310030_185114).