In recent times, allergy has become a financial, physical and psychological
burden to the society as a whole. The rise in allergy trends has reached panic
proportions since the early 1990’s and well into the 21st century. As suggested by the
hygiene hypothesis, a western way of life paves way to an atopic individual with a
weaker, more prone immune system, which is synonymous with excessive IgE antibody
production. Allergy affects people from all walks of life; young and old and can be lifethreatening
in some situations. Recently, cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 have been identified
as the main interleukins that play a critical role in allergy. In atopic individuals, a Th2
type profile of T cells exists rather than the Th1 subset in non-atopic individuals. This
Th2 cell variation results into a different profile of cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-13.
This consequently shifts antibody production from one of IgG to IgE profile. Upon
exposure to foreign antigens or allergens, these cytokines cause a cascade of events
eventually leading to the release of chemical mediators such as histamine that cause the
allergy symptoms.
Allergic symptoms may vary from a mild sneeze to a full-blown anaphylactic shock,
which may result in death. Developments in allergy drugs have been limited to
counteracting the symptoms but not the allergic cascade itself raising concerns about
quality of life. However, new frontiers in clinical drug research have been unfolded in
recent years to tackle this problem. Drugs such as antihistamines and non-steroidal antiinflammatories
are in use for suppressing allergy symptoms. Other techniques such as
specific immunotherapy, antibodies and most recently peptide antagonists have been
investigated for their potentiality against cytokines and allergy. However, a shadow of
skepticism and doubt still persists with all these developments. Many researchers have
drawn their attention particularly to IL-4 and IL-13 cytokines along with their receptors
as novel therapeutic targets for allergy intervention. This chapter will focus on recent
developments in this particular field and shed some light on anti-allergy agents that
inhibit cytokines.
Keywords: Allergens, allergy, anti-allergy agents, cytokines, IgE antibody, T
cells.
