Sublingual Immunotherapy in Human and Canine Atopic Dermatitis: A Mini Review

Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent disease that affects both humans and animals. Dogs share similar environments with the owners and spontaneously develop a disease that is clinically and immunologically identical to AD in humans. In past decades AD has become more and more common in both dogs and humans, possibly due to the increased exposure to indoor allergens and decreased exposure to parasites and beneficial bacteria. The allergic component plays an important role in both species. Allergen specific immunotherapy (ASIT) has been used with great success in veterinary medicine for decades for the treatment of AD and traditionally has been accomplished with subcutaneous injections. In human medicine, ASIT has been traditionally used for respiratory manifestations of atopic disease and only recently considered for the therapy of AD. Interestingly, dogs primarily express cutaneous manifestations of atopic disease and only rarely progress from cutaneous into respiratory disease, a process referred in human medicine as “atopic march”. Recently, sublingual immunotherapy has been replacing subcutaneous immunotherapy both in human and veterinary medicine due to its ease and safety, leading to increased compliance. The purpose of this mini review is to focus on the use of sublingual immunotherapy for AD highlighting similarities and differences between humans and dogs.