Asthma and Allergic Diseases
Resources for Researchers
NIAID supports 13 Asthma and Allergic Diseases Research Centers (AADRCs), which are the cornerstone of the pathobiology component of the NIAID asthma and allergy research portfolio. The AADRCs conduct basic and clinical research on the mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of asthma and allergic diseases.
Co-sponsored by NIAID, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) is an international consortium of basic scientists and clinical investigators that performs clinical research to evaluate the safety and efficacy of methods that can induce the immune system to tolerate certain antigens, including allergens, for the treatment of immune-mediated disorders. The ITN has completed a trial of recombinant ragweed allergen-immunostimulatory DNA conjugates for the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Preliminary data suggest that this conjugate, when given to ragweed allergic patients prior to the ragweed season, reduced symptoms in both that year’s and the following year’s ragweed season. The ITN is conducting a trial to determine the efficacy of the combination of anti-IgE (omalizumab) and ragweed allergen immunotherapy for treatment of allergic rhinitis and is also developing three other allergy protocols. These include recombinant ragweed allergen-immunostimulatory DNA conjugates in asthma; asthma/allergy prevention in young children by oral mucosal immunotherapy with house dust mite, cat, and timothy grass; and peanut allergy prevention by oral administration, in infants, of bamba, a peanut butter snack. More information on ITN is available at www.immunetolerance.org.
Related Links
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Asthma Control Program
2007 NIAID New Investigator Workshop
2006 Report of the NIH Expert Panel on Food Allergy Research