Allergen-specific immunotherapy induces the suppressive secretoglobin 1A1 in cells of the lower airways.

Background: While several systemic immunomodulatory effects of allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) have been discovered, local anti-inflammatory mechanisms in the respiratory tract are largely unknown. We sought to elucidate local and epithelial mechanisms underlying allergen-specific immunotherapy in a genome-wide approach.

Methods: We induced sputum in hay fever patients and healthy controls during the pollen peak season and stratified patients by effective allergen immunotherapy or as untreated.