Background: There still are few data on the long-term safety of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). The aim of this study was to assess the appearance of autoimmune diseases in patients before and after SLIT. Materials & methods: New cases of autoimmune diseases were monitored. Patients in the SLIT group (n = 816) were compared with controls (n = 1096). Results: The new incidences of autoimmune diseases in the SLIT group were lower compared with the control group: 18 (2.2%) versus 58 (5.3%); p < 0.05. Systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis and Hashimoto appeared much more often in the control group. Conclusion: SLIT had no significant effect on the induction of autoimmune diseases.
Keywords: IgE; allergy; autoimmune; lupus; psoriasis; sublingual immunotherapy.
The therapy for allergic people is named allergen-specific immunotherapy, and one of the ways of administering this therapy is sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), which means that the medication is kept in the mouth under the tongue. The authors assessed the safety of SLIT in terms of the risk of inducing autoimmune diseases, which means that the immune system is overactive, causing it to attack and damage the body's own tissues. Analysis of medical history for autoimmune diseases, clinical examinations and laboratory diagnostic tests were performed. SLIT did not significantly increase the incidences of autoimmune disease in the study group. SLIT is a safe therapy in long-term observation.