Allergen-specific immunotherapy （IT） is an effective treatment for allergic diseases. Although subcutane-ous and sublingual ITs are currently used, safer, easier, and more effective IT is under development. Inductio...Allergen-specific immunotherapy （IT） is an effective treatment for allergic diseases. Although subcutane-ous and sublingual ITs are currently used, safer, easier, and more effective IT is under development. Induction of immune tolerance by oral administration of allergen has been proven, though oral IT has not been applied clinically. It is mainly because a large amount of puri-fied allergen is required to induce oral tolerance. To overcome this problem, plants, peculiarly rice, have been investigated as allergen vehicles for oral IT. Rice can store a considerable amount of expressed allergen in its seeds and the accumulated allergen is stable and resistant to gastrointestinal digestion. Therefore, we have developed transgenic rice seeds （Tg rice） in which major epitopes of cedar pollen or house dust mites are expressed. We are establishing Tg rice with dem-onstrated effcacy in murine models of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma by oral administration at practical doses. In addition, the amount, distribution, and aller-genicity of the expressed allergen have been improved in our Tg rice. Rice-based oral IT is a promising new concept in IT for the treatment of allergic diseases.展开更多
基金Supported by Grant-in-Aid for Agri-health Project from the Ministry of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries of JapanJSPS KAKENHI No.24791817 and 26860122+2 种基金JSPS KAKENHI No.24500501that to Kaminuma O,No.24500501Grantin-Aid of Mishima Kaiun Memorial Foundation
文摘Allergen-specific immunotherapy （IT） is an effective treatment for allergic diseases. Although subcutane-ous and sublingual ITs are currently used, safer, easier, and more effective IT is under development. Induction of immune tolerance by oral administration of allergen has been proven, though oral IT has not been applied clinically. It is mainly because a large amount of puri-fied allergen is required to induce oral tolerance. To overcome this problem, plants, peculiarly rice, have been investigated as allergen vehicles for oral IT. Rice can store a considerable amount of expressed allergen in its seeds and the accumulated allergen is stable and resistant to gastrointestinal digestion. Therefore, we have developed transgenic rice seeds （Tg rice） in which major epitopes of cedar pollen or house dust mites are expressed. We are establishing Tg rice with dem-onstrated effcacy in murine models of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma by oral administration at practical doses. In addition, the amount, distribution, and aller-genicity of the expressed allergen have been improved in our Tg rice. Rice-based oral IT is a promising new concept in IT for the treatment of allergic diseases.
