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Enzyme-Potentiated Immunotherapy
Enzyme-potentiated desensitization, a procedure in which allergen is mixed with the enzyme beta-glucuronidase before injection, is promoted as an improvement over conventional allergy immunotherapy in that it requires many fewer injections.
A very low dose of allergen, approximately equivalent to the amount administered in a standard prick test, is mixed with partially purified beta-glucuronidase in a dose equivalent to the amount of enzyme present in 4 ml of human blood enzyme-potentiated immunotherapy, enzyme potentiated immunotherapy, enzime, imunotherapy
Immediately after being mixed, the two compounds are injected intradermally in the volume of approximately 0.125 ml. A single preseasonal dose is considered sufficient to produce a therapeutic effect lasting through an entire pollen season. For perennial allergy, the intradermal injections are given every 2 to 6 months. Both inhalant and food allergens have been used in
Proponents of this form of treatment have claimed success in treating allergic rhinitis, asthma, sinusitis, nasal polyposis, eczema, urticaria, migraine headaches, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and
The enzyme beta-glucuronidase is said to activate CD8 lymphocytes, thereby suppressing the immune response to the allergen.
The effectiveness of this form of treatment and the presumed pharmacologic property of beta-glucuronidase on the immune system have yet to be shown. One report of a single injection given preseasonally to 44 grass pollen-allergic patients showed significant improvement over a placebo effect when measured by overall patient preference and lessened requirement for drug therapy, but daily symptom records showed no effect. Two recent reports from Italy showed clinical improvements in double-blind studies in children with mite-allergic asthma and pollen-allergic rhinitis. Further studies are indicated to
Enzyme-potentiated desensitization is based on a presumed effect of the enzyme on suppressing the immune response to natural exposure to allergens. It is unlikely that the minute amount of enzyme would have a pharmacologic effect when the dose given is a
Claims of therapeutic properties of human urine go back to ancient times. In the early 1930s several medical publications claimed that a specific substance, called "proteose," is present during allergic