The effect of SLIT on asthma symptoms at different pediatric age ranges

Background: Sublingual Specific Immunotherapy (SLIT) is considered a disease-modifying treatment for allergic asthma. Objective: to compare the effect of SLIT in children of different age ranges on asthmic symptoms. Method: Fifty children (29 boys;58%), aged between 6 and 14 years, with a clinical history of allergic asthma underwent SLIT for 3 years: 23(46%) for House Dust Mite and 27(54%) for Grass Mix. Sensitizations were assessed by Skin Prick Tests and serum specific IgE. We divided children into two age groups: 27 patients (54%) aged ≤10 years and 23 (46%) aged >10 years of life. Severity and frequency of bronchial symptoms were evaluated at the baseline (T0) and at the end (T3) of the treatment by an Asthma Symptom Score (ASS): a score of 1 was assigned to mild symptoms, 2 to moderate and 3 to severe. For each children the difference between the ASS at T0 and at T3 was considered as Δ asthma score (ΔAS). Results: A decrease of ASS for both the age ranges was observed since the first year of treatment. Among different age ranges although its reduction over time did not show any statistically significant difference (p>0.05), there was a significant difference in ΔAS which was higher in children aged >10 years than the younger ones (children aged years >10 mean= 3.85; children aged ≤10 years mean=2.11; p Conclusion: SLIT is effective in determining a significant reduction of bronchial symptoms in pediatric patients at different age ranges. The reduction of symptoms seems to be more in children aged >10 years.