Background: Subcutaneous venom immunotherapy (VIT) represents an effective treatment against bee venom allergy. However, it involves long treatment times, high costs, and the risk of adverse events (AEs). Shorter, safer, and cheaper treatment options are therefore pursued.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Arch Allergy Immunol
September 2009
Background: IgE-mediated allergy can be treated by subcutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT). However, the percentage of allergic patients undergoing SIT is low, mainly due to the long duration of the therapy and the risk of severe systemic allergic reactions associated with the allergen administration. To improve the safety and attractiveness of SIT for patients, alternative routes of allergen administration are being explored, such as sub-lingual or oral administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe only causative treatment for IgE-mediated allergies is allergen-specific immunotherapy. However, fewer than 5% of allergy patients receive immunotherapy because of its long duration and risk of allergic side effects. We aimed at enhancing s.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirus like particles (VLPs) are known to induce potent B cell responses in the absence of adjuvants. Moreover, epitope-specific antibody responses may be induced by VLPs that contain peptides inserted in their immunodominant regions. However, due to steric problems, the size of the peptides capable of being incorporated into VLPs while still permitting capsid assembly, is rather limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirus-like particles (VLPs) are known to induce strong Ab responses in the absence of adjuvants. In addition, VLPs are able to prime CTL responses in vivo. To study the efficiency of this latter process, we fused peptide p33 derived from lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus to the hepatitis B core Ag, which spontaneously assembles into VLPs (p33-VLPs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first step of leukocyte extravasation, leukocyte rolling, is mediated by E-, P-, and L-selectins. Mice deficient for alpha-1,3-fucosyltransferase VII (FucTVII)(-/-) are characterized by deficiency of E-, P-, and L-selectin ligand activity. This model system was used to evaluate the role of the interactions of selectins with their ligands in T and B cell responses.
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