title: [Application of humanized Anti-IgE antibodies (omalizumab). A new principle in the treatment of allergic diseases in ENT medicine].
abstract: Omalizumab is a humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibody developed for the treatment of allergic diseases. It has demonstrated good efficacy in patients with intermittent and persisting allergic rhinitis and in patients with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma. Omalizumab results in a marked lowering of free IgE in serum and down-regulation of IgE receptors on circulating basophils. In addition, it reduces the inflow of eosinophils into nasal and bronchial tissue and the number of IgE-positive mast cells in the bronchial mucosa. Omalizumab treatment has also been shown to be associated with down-regulation of IgE receptors on circulating dendritic cells, suggesting that blocking IgE may also inhibit chronic aspects of allergic inflammation involving T cell-activation. Patients' clinical symptoms are attenuated and their quality of life improved by anti-IgE treatment with omalizumab; other medications effective in symptomatic treatment are therefore less necessary. Omalizumab's broad spectrum of efficacy emphasizes the central role of IgE in the allergic-inflammatory cascade. Further areas of applications in ENT medicine could be anticipated in other IgE-related illnesses, such as allergic rhinitis, food allergies, laryngitis and chronic allergy-related rhinosinusitis.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Rhinologie und Allergologie Wiesbaden der HNO-Universitätsklinik Mannheim, An den Quellen 10, 65183 Wiesbaden. oliver.pfaar@hno-wiesbaden.de
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pfaar
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Klimek
mesh_terms: D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000069444:Omalizumab; D010036:Otolaryngology / Q000639:trends*; D010038:Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000069444:Omalizumab