Household Arthropod Allergens in Korea

Arthropods are important in human health, which can transmit pathogens to humans, parasitize, or produce important allergens. Allergy prevalence becomes higher in Korea recently as well as other developed countries in contrast to a decrease of infectious diseases. Allergic diseases caused by household arthropods have increased dramatically during the last few decades since human beings spend more their time for indoor activities in modernized life style. Household arthropods are one of the most common causes of allergic diseases. Biological characterization of household arthropods and researches on their allergens will provide better understanding of the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and suggest new therapeutic ways. Therefore, studies on arthropods of allergenic importance can be considered one of the major research areas in medical arthropodology and parasitology. Here, the biology of several household arthropods, including house dust mites and cockroaches, the 2 most well known arthropods living indoor together with humans worldwide, and characteristics of their allergens, especially the research activities on these allergens performed in Korea, are summarized.

Prevalence of arthropod antibodies in Korean patients with allergic rhinitis

Arthropod antigens are main causative agents which induce allergic responses in humans. However, little information is known about the prevalence of specific arthropod allergens in Koreans with allergic diseases. The current study was designed to determine the positive rates of arthropod antibodies by the Korean inhalant panel of MAST-CLA. One hundred sixty patients, who were diagnosed with allergic rhinitis from an out-patient center at the Soonchunhyang University Chunan Hospital, were studied between August 1998 to July 2000. The overall positive rate, at least more than one specific antibody of arthropods such as Dermatophagoides farinae (Df), Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp), and cockroach mix (Cm), was 46.9%. Each positive rate of Df, Dp, and Cm was 45.0%, 43.1%, and 8.8%, respectively. A significant agreement among arthropod allergens was observed (Df and Dp: 95.6%, Kappa = 0.911, P < 0.001). Our data supported the fact that arthropods were the most common allergens in Korean patients with allergic rhinitis; however, the MAST-CLA should be modified to increase specificity of arthropod allergens.

Significado biologico de la reactividad cruzada entre el alergeno mayor de cucaracha y la tropomiosina de artropodos, nematodos y mamiferos / Biologic meanings of crossed reactivy between mayor allergen roach and tropomiosina of arthropods, nematodes and mammalians

Recientes hallazgos experimentales sugieren que existe una reactividad cruzada entre los alergenos de la Cucaracha (CR) con alergenos presentes en insectos y algunos invertebrados. Se ha demostrado que Anticuerpos (Ac) de naturaleza IgE, provenientes de pacientes con alergia a insectos, reaccionan con Ag de Lepisma Saccharina, un insecto; también lo hacen con Ag de Blatella germánica y extractos de chironomid. Este fenómeno también se ha observado entre antígenos de CR y diferentes especies crustáceas. Hay algunos hallazgos experimentales que muestran reacciones cruzadas entre Antígenos de cucarachas con Antígenos de nemátodos, tales como el Anisakis y Ascaris. No se ha demostrado reactividad cruzada entre alergenos de cucaracha y alergenos de mamíferos superiores. La proteína implicada en esta reactividad cruzada es la tropomiosina, la cual, ha sido identificada como el mayor alergeno en la CR, los ácaros, el camarón y otros crustáceos. Esta proteína muestra una homología sustancial en la secuencia aminoacídica entre estas diferentes especies. Se sugiere que este fenómeno tiene un significado y una relevancia clínica, por cuanto pudiera explicar la inducción de sensibilización hacia alergenos de invertebrados o sensibilización a Ag de crustáceos en individuos originariamente sensibilizados contra Ag de ácaros o de CR