Allergen immunotherapy for allergic asthma: protocol for a systematic review

Sangeeta Dhami; Ulugbek Nurmatov; Ioana Agache; Susanne Lau; Antonella Muraro; Marek Jutel; Graham Roberts; Cezmi Akdis; Matteo Bonini; Moises Calderon; Thomas Casale; Ozlem Cavkaytar; Linda Cox; Pascal Demoly; Breda Flood; Eckard Hamelmann; Kenji Izuhara; Ömer Kalayci; Jörg Kleine-Tebbe; Antonio Nieto; Nikolaos Papadopoulos; Oliver Pfaar; Lanny Rosenwasser; Dermot Ryan; Carsten Schmidt-Weber; Stan Szefler; Ulrich Wahn; Roy-Gerth van Wijk; Jamie Wilkinson; Aziz Sheikh

doi:10.1186/s13601-016-0094-y

Allergen immunotherapy for allergic asthma: protocol for a systematic review

Clin Transl Allergy. 2016 Feb 9:6:5. doi: 10.1186/s13601-016-0094-y. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Sangeeta Dhami¹, Ulugbek Nurmatov², Ioana Agache³, Susanne Lau⁴, Antonella Muraro⁵, Marek Jutel⁶, Graham Roberts⁷, Cezmi Akdis⁸, Matteo Bonini⁹, Moises Calderon¹⁰, Thomas Casale¹¹, Ozlem Cavkaytar¹², Linda Cox¹³, Pascal Demoly¹⁴, Breda Flood¹⁵, Eckard Hamelmann¹⁶, Kenji Izuhara¹⁷, Ömer Kalayci¹⁸, Jörg Kleine-Tebbe¹⁹, Antonio Nieto²⁰, Nikolaos Papadopoulos²¹, Oliver Pfaar²², Lanny Rosenwasser²³, Dermot Ryan²⁴, Carsten Schmidt-Weber²⁵, Stan Szefler²⁶, Ulrich Wahn²⁷, Roy-Gerth van Wijk²⁸, Jamie Wilkinson²⁹, Aziz Sheikh³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Evidence-Based Health Care Ltd, Edinburgh, UK.
² Systematic Review at Decision Resources Group Abacus International, Oxford, UK.
³ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Transylvania University Brasov, Brasov, Romania.
⁴ Department of Pediatric Pneumology and Immunology, Charité Medical University, Berlin, Germany.
⁵ Food Allergy Referral Centre Veneto Region, University Hospital of Padua, Padua, Italy.
⁶ Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
⁷ The David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre, St Mary's Hospital, Newport Isle of Wight, NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
⁸ Swiss Institute for Allergy and Asthma Research, Davos, Switzerland.
⁹ Sapienza University Rome, Rome, Italy.
¹⁰ National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, London, UK.
¹¹ University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA.
¹² Department of Allegy and Clinical Immunology, Sami Ulus Maternity and Children Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
¹³ Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL USA.
¹⁴ University and Hospital of Montpellier and Inserm Paris Sorbonnes, Montpellier, France.
¹⁵ European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Association, Brussels, Belgium.
¹⁶ Children's Center Bethel, EvKB, Bieledelf, Germany ; Allergy Center, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany.
¹⁷ Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan.
¹⁸ Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
¹⁹ Allergy and Asthma Center Westend (AAZW), Berlin, Germany.
²⁰ Children's Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain.
²¹ Allergy Department, 2nd Pediatric Clinic, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
²² Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany ; Center for Rhinology and Allergology, Wiesbaden, Germany.
²³ Children's Mercy Hospital, Kentucky, MO USA.
²⁴ University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
²⁵ Technische Univ and Helmholtz Center Munich, Munich, Germany.
²⁶ Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO USA.
²⁷ Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, Charite, Berlin, Germany.
²⁸ Section of Allergology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁹ Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union, Brussels, Belgium.
³⁰ Allergy and Respiratory Research Group, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Abstract

Background: The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) is in the process of developing the EAACI Guidelines for Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) for Allergic Asthma. We seek to critically assess the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and safety of AIT in the management of allergic asthma.

Methods: We will undertake a systematic review, which will involve searching international biomedical databases for published, in progress and unpublished evidence. Studies will be independently screened against pre-defined eligibility criteria and critically appraised using established instruments. Data will be descriptively and, if possible and appropriate, quantitatively synthesised.

Discussion: The findings from this review will be used to inform the development of recommendations for EAACI's Guidelines on AIT.

Keywords: Allergen immunotherapy; Allergic asthma; Allergy; Disease-modifying; Respiratory allergy.