ABSTRACT
Seventy four young asthmatics were evaluated to establish the role of immunoglobulins and allergy mediators in clinical asthma. They were categorized into Group I (n = 38) or Group II (n = 36) when having mild or severe bronchospasm respectively. In some patients, reversibility of bronchospasm (n = 35), exercise challenge (n = 24) and intradermal allergy testing (n = 24) were also studied. Seventy subjects had raised IgE levels (greater than 100 KU/L) but these did not correlate with the severity of clinical or exercise induced asthma or with reversibility of bronchospasm. An IgE level greater than 1000 KU/L was associated with more number of positive skin tests. Group II subjects had a shorter blood recalcification time (p less than 0.01) and higher levels of IgG, histamine and serotonin (p less than 0.001). It appears that severe asthma is associated with activation of blood coagulation, and release of allergy mediators contributes to the evolution of bronchospasm. Total IgE predicts the utility of skin testing in asthma.