TABLE 2.
Immunological results of AACT: total IgE, specific IgE, sputum eosinophils
| Reference | Study population (n) | Treatment duration | Asthma characteristics | Study measurements | Outcome, observed change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vervloet D et al (1982) a | N = 42 | 9 months | Children with positive intradermal skin tests to dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and domestic dust | T0 Sep – T3 June |
Total IgE geometric mean 1047 U/ml to 603 U/ml (p < .001) Specific IgE to dermatophagoides, to domestic dust, and to grass pollen dropped during the stay (p < .001). IgG mg/100 ml mean (SEM) 1521 (105) to 1482 (61), IgA mean (SEM) 232 (21) to 251 (23) and IgM mean (SEM) 188 (19) to 174 (19) |
| Piacentini G et al (1993) a | N = 20 | 3 months | Children with allergic asthma | T0 Sep – T1 Oct – T2 Dec – T3 Jan |
sIgE kU/L to Dpt mean ± SEM T0:58.485 ± 7.059 kU/L T1:45.067 ± 5.711 T2:48.722 ± 8.093 kU/L T3: 62.629 ± 8.055 kU/L |
| Boner AL et al (1993) CEA | N = 12 | 9 months | Asthmatic atopic children (sensitized to HDM) | T3 June – T0 Sep – T1 Dec |
Total IgE IU/ml mean ± SEM 477.28 ± 1375 to 680.65 ± 151.4 to 472.56 ± 99.26 Dpt IgE IU/ml mean ± SEM 48.27 ± 8.97 to 57.46 ± 11.64 to 48.28 ± 10.59 Df IgE IU/ml mean ± SEM T3 21.79 ± 4.58 to 33.35 ± 7.71 to 25.2 ± 5.57 |
| Peroni DG et al (1994) | N = 22 | 9 months | Asthmatic children allergic to HDM | Oct – Jan – June – Sep |
Total IgE IU/ml mean (SD) 886 (800), 585 (434), 463 (350), 877 (701) HDM specific IgE IU/ml mean ± SD 35 ± 6.6, 332. ± 6.8, ±29.6 ± 6.7, 25.6 ± 8.5 |
| Christie PE et al (1995) | N = 14 | At least 1 month | Adolescents with mild atopic asthma and HDM sensitization |
(1) Baseline – 3 weeks AACT (2) Baseline – 2 weeks sea level – return to AACT |
Total IgE kU/L Mean (SEM) AACT 1400 (517) to 1627 (799) Sea level 1794 (631) to 2073 (796) |
| van Velzen E et al (1996) | N = 16 | 1 month | Children with allergic asthma | Before–after AACT |
Total IgE kU/L mean (SE) 961.61(512.82) to 957.19(475.66) |
| Piacentini GL et al (2011) | N = 14 | 6 months | Children with mild‐to‐moderate asthma, sensitized to HDM or grass | T0 Sep – T1 Dec – T2 Jan – T3 Mar |
Specific IgE kU/L: T0 113.89 to T1 99.52 kU/L to T3 92.83 kU/L Specific IgG4: No significant variations were found IgG4/IgE mg/kU: T0 59.6 to T1 76.75 to T3 86.84 |
| Rijssenbeek‐Nouwens LH et al (2012) | N = 137 | 12 weeks | Adults with severe refractory asthma, HDM sensitized (n = 68), non‐HDM‐sensitized (n = 69) | Before– after AACT |
Total IgE kU/L mean (SD): 376 (7–5000) to 245 (6–4682) (p = .003) N = 43 Total IgE kU/L mean (SD): 94 (5–1781) to 58 (5–1961) (p = .039) N = 36 |
| Basler L et al (2020) |
RCT AACT n = 24 adults Control group at low altitude n = 25 adults |
3 weeks FU: 3 m |
Adults with asthma (ACQ >0.75) | Before–after AACT |
Total IgE baseline only AACT 350 ± 445 Control group 267 ± 365 sIgE mite kUA/L AACT 23.2 (25) to 19 (18) mean change (95% CI) −4.2 (−11.3 to 2.9) Control group 37.7 (59.2) to 27.5 (53) mean change (95% CI)−10.2 (−18.9 to −1.4) sIgE pollen kUA/L AACT 14.9 (25.2) to 12.6 (22.1) mean change (95% CI) −2.31 (−5.4 to 0.79)kU/L Control group 21.5 (30.9) to 16.5 (27.8) mean change (95% CI) −4.95 (−9.69 to −0.21) |
| Piacentini G et al a (1993) | N = 20 | 3 months | Children with allergic asthma | T0 Sep – T1 Oct – T2 Dec – T3 Jan |
Spontaneous histamine release mean ± SEM T0:6.08% ± 0.51% T1:6.77% ± 0.54% T2:6.2% ± 0.56% T3:5.03% ± 0.57% antigen‐induced histamine release mean ± SEM T0: 34.2% ± 4.7% T1:22.76% ± 4.0% T2:22.9% ± 3.2% T3:33.3% ± 5.8% |
| Boner AL et al (1993) a Allergy | N = 23 | 9 months (Sep – June) | Moderately severe HDM allergic asthmatic children | T0 Sep – T2 Mar – T3 June |
Sputum eosinophils % mean ± SEM T0 14.4.3 ± 3.32 to T2 7.43 ± 2.11 to T3 5.97 ± 1.79 |
| Piacentini GL et al (1996) a | N = 16 | 3 months | Asthmatic children allergic to HDM | T0 Sep – T1 Dec | Sputum eosinophils % median (Q1, Q3) of 14.02 (3.34, 28.24) to 2.08 (0, 7.4) (p < .01) |
| Piacentini GL et al (1998) a | N = 10 | 3 months | Children with a history of bronchial asthma and positive SPT to HDM | T0 Sep – T1 Dec – T2 Jan |
Sputum eosinophils % T0 1(0;5.25) to T1 0(0,1.5) (p < .05) to T2 1.5 (0;3) (NS) Airway epithelial cells (%) in sputum T0: 3.50 (0.50;6.98) T1 0 (0;0.5) (p = .012) T2 3.9(1.50;6) (p = .027) |
| Grootendorst DC et al (2001) |
AACT: N = 10 Sea level: N = 8 |
10 weeks FU:6w |
Atopic adolescents sensitized for HDM |
(1) Baseline – 4 w AACT – 8 w AACT – 6 w FU (2) Control group: 0 w 8 w 16 w |
Sputum eosinophils % AACT 3.1 (0–5.6), 2.2 (0–8.6), 1.7 (0–9.4), 3.0 (0–6.0) Control group 3.0 (0–10.8), 1.6 (0–2.2), 2.6 (0–6.4) |
| Peroni DG et al (2001) a | N = 15 | 3 months | HDM sensitized children with asthma (6–14 years of age) | T0 Sep – T1 Dec – T2 Jan |
Sputum eosinophils % T0: 9.0% ± 2.9% T1: 3.2% ± 0.9% T2: 5.9% ± 1.6% |
| Bodini A et al (2004) a | N = 12 | 3 months | Asthmatic children sensitized to HDM | T0 Sep – T1 Dec | Sputum eosinophils % T0 8.5 ± 1.1% to T1 3.5 ± 0.4% (p = .011) |
| Kulkarni N et al (2018) a | N = 62 | 3 weeks | Children with mild‐to‐moderate asthma (77% GINA 1 and 2) | Before–after | Sputum eosinophils % 3 (0–52) to 1 (0–30) p = .001 |
Abbreviations: FU, follow‐up; HDM, house dust mite.
Children were admitted to the clinics in Briançon and Misurina for an entire school year. Admission is usually in September (T0 the period of allergen avoidance starts), children go home for a 2 or 3 weeks Christmas holiday (T1 re‐exposure to allergens starts) and return to the clinic from January (T2 allergen avoidance continues) until June (T3 end of school year).