Immunomodulation
Chinese Herbal Medicine15
Food allergy herbal formula 2 (FAHF-2) is a nine-herb preparation made from reishi mushroom, Chinese plum, gold thread root, Asian ginseng root, ginger root, angelica root, amur cork tree, true cinnamon bark, and prickly ash peel.
It has shown promising immunomodulatory and anti-allergic effects in mice but has yet to show clinical efficacy in humans.
There is an ongoing clinical trial studying the efficacy of multi-allergen OIT with omalizumab compared with multi-allergen OIT with omalizumab + B-FAHF-2. Depending on the results, B-FAHF-2 could be a promising adjuvant to current AIT treatment protocols.
Cytokines1
The use of cytokines to alter the cytokine profile of immune responses has been hypothesized as a potential treatment for allergies.
Regulatory and immunomodulatory cytokines such as IL-10, TGF-β, and IFNγ have been studied for their effects on allergic reactions and tolerance induction. IL-10 and TGF-β have been studied in mice and resulted in reduced allergic sensitization and reactivity, as well as a reduction in allergen-specific IgE and T-cell reactivity. The effects of IFNγ have been studied in children with multiple food allergies and showed successful induction of tolerance when combined with OIT.
Cytokines appear to be a promising adjuvant to the current AIT treatment protocols in order to increase treatment safety and efficacy.