[Personalized medicine in allergology].

BACKGROUND

Personalized medicine offers new perspectives for diagnostic measurements and medical treatment, but also puts greater demands on the physician.

OBJECTIVES

Developments, potentials and potential pitfalls of personalized medicine in allergology.

METHODS

Overview, evaluation and discussion of the current state of science on the basis of selected examples.

RESULTS

Allergic diseases like allergic rhinitis, atopic eczema or anaphylaxis can be classified into various clinical phenotypes, which are based on different immunological endotypes. These can be captured and categorized by a wide variety of omics technologies. The identification of endotype specific biomarkers holds promising opportunities of more precise diagnostics, the implementation of novel targeted therapies or the development of optimized preventive strategies. However, individualized analysis and assessment of the significance of the measurements represent special challenges.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of the complex omics technologies need to be evaluated by comprehensive prospective studies in order to validate their clinical relevance and suitability for personalized medicine in allergology.