Hypoallergenic derivatives of major grass pollen allergens for allergy vaccination

Abstract

Grass pollen-induced hay-fever and allergic asthma represent a major health problem in industrialized countries. Whereas the symptoms of these allergic conditions can be controlled by pharmacotherapy, specific immunotherapy vaccination is the only causative approach towards the treatment of these type 1 allergies. Specific immunotherapy is based on administration of increasing amounts of the disease-causing allergens in the form of allergen-containing extracts. However, the extracts used for immunotherapy consist of allergenic and non-allergenic components and may induce severe anaphylactic side-effects upon therapeutic administration. With recent developments in molecular biology of pollen ..