Overview of allergenic molecules
Currently, more than one thousand allergens from various allergenic
sources have been described. Most of these molecules, that are relevant
for AIT decisions, belong to a limited number of protein families and
have been extensively revised4,20,21.
More than 40 % of the relevant plant allergens belong to six protein
families: 2S albumins ,non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTP)),
legumins, vicilins , profilins and pathogenesis-related (PR)-10
proteins22. In
contrast, there are other families with only a few but very relevant
members, as they include major pollen allergens such as expansins,
polcalcins, pectate lyases and defensin-like proteins. Concerning animal
allergen families, four of them (cysteine proteases, lipocalins,
tropomyosins and parvalbumins), account for over 70% of the relevant
allergens (Table 1) 23.
A separate category is formed by the allergens from hymenoptera venom
(Table 2).