Immune Metabolism in TH2 Responses: New Opportunities to Improve Allergy Treatment — Disease-Specific Findings (Part 1)

Abstract

Purpose of Review: Recent high-level publications have shown an intricate connection between immune effector function and the metabolic state of the respective cells. In the last years, studies have begun analyzing the metabolic changes associated with allergies. As the first part of a two-article series, this review will briefly summarize the basics of immune metabolism and then focus on the recently published studies on metabolic changes observed in allergic patients. Recent Findings: In the last 3 years, immune-metabolic research in allergology had a clear focus on asthma with some studies also reporting findings in food allergy and atopic dermatitis. Current results suggest asthma to be associated with a shift in cellular metabolism towards increased aerobic glycolysis (Warburg metabolism), while also displaying substantial changes in fatty acid- and amino acid metabolism (depending on investigated patient collective, asthma phenotype, and disease severity). Summary: Understanding immune-metabolic changes in allergies will allow us to (I) better understand allergic disease pathology and (II) modulate immune-metabolic pathways to improve allergy treatment.