摘要
INTRODUCTION Allergen-specific immunotherapy(AIT)is a therapeutic strategy to restore the normal immune response by suppressing inflammatory effector cells and inducing regulatory cells specific to the culprit allergen.Conventionally,AIT is achieved by administering escalating doses of allergen over a long treatment course.However,the use of unmodified allergens for AIT often results in severe anaphylactic side effects,and alternative approaches such as hypoallergens and T-cell epitopes with enhanced safety have been considered.The use of mimotopes in AIT is a relatively new concept,but earlier proof-ofconcept studies showed promising results for mimotopes,with decent safety profiles and immunomodulatory capacity1.While the treatment of cancer with mimotope-based immunotherapy has already been tested in clinical trials2,mimotope-based AIT remains largely in the preclinical stage.Here,we revisit the pros and cons of mimotope-based AIT and describe recent findings concerning the use of mimotopes in AIT.
