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Sublingual Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis: a Systematic Review Using the GRADE System

  • IMMUNOTHERAPY AND IMMUNOMODULATORS (L COX, SECTION EDITOR)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Controversy exists regarding the role of allergen immunotherapy as a therapeutic intervention for patients with atopic dermatitis and aeroallergen sensitivity. Our aim was to critically appraise the evidence supporting the use of sublingual immunotherapy for patients with atopic dermatitis and aeroallergen sensitivity. We performed a literature search using the terms “sublingual immunotherapy” and “atopic dermatitis” and “sublingual immunotherapy” and “eczema.” We used the same terms to search PubMed, Ovid, and Scopus. Our limits were “Humans” and “English.” We excluded articles that were not in English. These articles were analyzed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Many studies reported improvement in clinical symptoms of atopic dermatitis. Serious methodological shortcomings were noted including but not limited to lack of control group, lack of randomization, incomplete descriptions of randomization and/or allocation concealment, many enrolled subjects not completing participation, and/or data analysis not by intention to treat.

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Abbreviations

AIT:

Allergen immunotherapy

SLIT:

Sublingual immunotherapy

SCIT:

Subcutaneous immunotherapy

RCT:

Randomized controlled trial

DBRCT:

Double-blind randomized controlled trial

GRADE:

Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation

MCID:

Minimal clinically important difference

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgments

No financial support was provided for this study.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

ᅟ

Conflict of Interest

Samantha R. Gendelman declares that she has no conflict of interest.

David M. Lang reports grants and personal fees from Genentech/Novartis, grants and personal fees from Merck, personal fees from Hycor, personal fees from Quest, outside the submitted work.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Immunology & Allergy, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Samantha R. Gendelman

  2. Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Respiratory Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    David M. Lang

  3. Clinical Immunology and Allergy, UCLA Medical Center—Santa Monica, 1245 16th Street, Suite 303, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, USA

    Samantha R. Gendelman

Authors
  1. Samantha R. Gendelman
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Correspondence to Samantha R. Gendelman.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Immunotherapy and Immunomodulators

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Gendelman, S.R., Lang, D.M. Sublingual Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis: a Systematic Review Using the GRADE System. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 15, 498 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-014-0498-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-014-0498-5

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