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Abstract: 

Allergic diseases are highly prevalent disorders, mainly in industrialized countries where

they constitute a high global health problem. Allergy is defined as an immune response 

“shifted toward a type 2 inflammation” induced by the interaction between the antigen (allergen) 

and IgE antibodies bound to mast cells and basophils that induce the release of inflammatory mediators

that cause the clinical symptoms. Currently, allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is the only

treatment able to change the course of these diseases, modifying the type 2 inflammatory response

by an allergenic tolerance, where the implication of T regulatory (Treg) cells is considered essential.

The pollen of the olive tree is one of the most prevalent causes of respiratory allergic diseases in

Mediterranean countries, inducing mainly nasal and conjunctival symptoms, although, in areas with

a high antigenic load, olive-tree pollen may cause asthma exacerbation. Classically, olive-pollen

allergy treatment has been based on specific immunotherapy using whole-olive pollen extracts.

Despite extracts standardization, the effectiveness of this strategy varies widely, therefore there is a

need for more effective AIT approaches. One of the most attractive is the use of synthetic peptides

representing the B- or T-cell epitopes of the main allergens. This review summarizes experimental

evidence of several T-cell epitopes derived from the Ole e 1 sequence to modulate the response

to olive pollen in vitro, associated with several possible mechanisms that these peptides could be

inducing, showing their usefulness as a safe preventive tool for these complex diseases