Role of bacillus Calmette–Guérin as an immunomodulator for the prevention and treatment of allergy and asthma
- 1 December 2005
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology
- Vol. 5 (6), 552-557
- https://doi.org/10.1097/01.all.0000191238.20632.e2
Abstract
As an essential part of the hygiene hypothesis, the association between exposure to mycobacterial components and the prevention, development and severity of atopic diseases has not been fully understood. The current status on the causal–effect link of this relationship and the potential use of mycobacterial adjuvants as a preventive or disease-modifying modality in allergic diseases is reviewed in this article. Data obtained from human and animal models indicate a discrepancy regarding the preventive and therapeutic effect of bacillus Calmette–Guérin in atopic diseases. Among the issues that require clarification include whether the distinction in T helper type 1/2 cells decribed in mice can be fully extrapolated to humans. Other factors involved could be caused by genetic variation, optimal timing, dose, route of delivery as well as environmental factors, which affect the degree of natural exposure to pathogenic or saprophytic mycobacteria. Most of the evidence available to date suggests a need for an improved mycobacterial vaccine administered early in life, by means of alternative routes, preferentially mucosal. As switching away from the T helper type 2 immune response by inducing T helper type 1 is unable to explain the underlying mechanisms of action of mycobacterial antigens, it may be worthwhile to investigate whether T regulatory cells are induced in response to different mycobacterial adjuvants.Keywords
This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- The effect of BCG vaccine at birth on the development of atopy or allergic disease in young childrenAnnals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 2004
- Mycobacterium vaccae induces a population of pulmonary CD11c+ cells with regulatory potential in allergic miceEuropean Journal of Immunology, 2004
- IL‐10 and TGF‐β cooperate in the regulatory T cell response to mucosal allergens in normal immunity and specific immunotherapyEuropean Journal of Immunology, 2003
- Therapeutic effects of BCG vaccination in adult asthmatic patients: a randomized, controlled trialAnnals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 2002
- T cell–mediated Fas-induced keratinocyte apoptosis plays a key pathogenetic role in eczematous dermatitisJCI Insight, 2000
- Host Defense Mechanisms Triggered by Microbial Lipoproteins Through Toll-Like ReceptorsScience, 1999
- Effect of pre-immunization by killedMycobacterium bovisandvaccaeon immunoglobulin E response in ovalbumin-sensitized newborn micePediatric Allergy and Immunology, 1999
- Infection of Mice with Mycobacterium bovis–Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Suppresses Allergen-induced Airway EosinophiliaThe Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1998
- The expanding universe of T-cell subsets: Th1, Th2 and moreImmunology Today, 1996
- Hay fever, hygiene, and household size.BMJ, 1989