Serum IgE levels and specific IgE antibodies in house dust mite allergy: predictive value

Who will benefit from hyposensitization? Predictive parameters in house dust mite allergic asthmatics

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of various data collected before treatment to predict the therapeutic benefits of hyposensitization. Thirty-one asthmatics were hyposensitized with extract from the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp) for 2 years, 15 comparable patients served as controls. The treatment extract was either modified by coupling to monomethoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG) or administered in a diluent containing Al(OH)3. Improvement would be either a greater than or equal to 10-fold increase in bronchial tolerance to Dp or an overall clinical effect judged from questionnaires plus diary cards. Patients improving in bronchial Dp-sensitivity after 1 year had been more sensitive to DP pre-treatment in bronchi and in basophils, and had a lower FEV1 compared with the patients not improving (P less than 0.05). Occurrence of late-phase bronchospasm to pre-treatment Dp-challenge increased the chance of clinical improvement approximately 3-fold (P less than 0.05). A certain mite exposure seems to be a condition of an improvement in symptoms/medication. In patients improving, the median allergen concentration on mattresses was equivalent to 1,000 mites/g compared with less than 250 mites/g in patients showing no clinical improvement (P = 0.1). Information on Dp-specific IgE, IgG, IgG subclasses, Dp-sensitivity in skin, nose and eyes, age, and duration of symptoms did not permit any prediction of therapeutic effect.

Serum IgE, skin and radioallergosorbent tests for house dust and mites in asthmatic children

Thirty asthmatic children were given an intradermal skin test, total IgE measurements and the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) against house dust and house dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae). Results of the intradermal skin test and RAST were highly positive with overall agreement in 95.6%. The correlation coefficient between the total IgE and the RAST to house dust was 0.35 (p less than 0.05). There was no significant difference between the total IgE and the RAST to D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae (p greater than 0.05). The highly significant correlation coefficient between house dust and house dust mites (D. farinae, p less than 0.0001; D. pteronyssinus, p less than 0.00001) was determined by RAST. House dust has been found to be the most important allergen in children in Taiwan. The role of mites as a possible allergen in house dust also showed a highly significant correlation in our study.