Domestic mite–induced allergy: Causes, diagnosis, and future prospects

Allergies to various environmental factors, in particular mite species, represent a considerable healthcare burden with lost productivity resulting from symptoms including asthma, conjunctivitis, rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. The complexity of mite species and the allergens that they produce complicates diagnosis and treatment; however, the advent of recombinant DNA technologies now allows clinicians to better pinpoint the specific sensitizing agents and creates new opportunities for avoidance or immunotherapy. Here we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of traditional and novel diagnostic and therapeutic platforms, with particular consideration given to multiplex tests able to generate patient-specific allergen profiles. Immunotherapies tailored to such profiles may be safer and more effective than generalized treatments, but many hurdles, including the costs associated with identifying the protein or protein combinations able to exert the safest and most beneficial effects, must be overcome before such therapies can be globally applied.