ABSTRACT
Prick skin tests on 200 patients with a history of sensitivity to dust were done against house dust, cockroach, D. pteronyssinus, and D. farinae antigenic extracts. The frequency of positive reaction was 35% to cockroach, 59% to house dust, 84.7% to D. farinae, and 54% to D. pteronyssinus. Distinctively different prevalence of the three antigens, cockroach, house dust, and mites suggest that cockroach antigen is a specific antigen independent from house dust and mite antigens.
Subject(s)
Cockroaches/immunology , Dust/adverse effects , Hypersensitivity, Immediate/etiology , Animals , Humans , India , Skin TestsABSTRACT
Total mean serum IgE levels of 63 patients (aged 16-49 years) suffering from bronchial asthma and 64 control subjects (aged 19-40 years) were estimated by RIA method. Mean serum IgE level of patients and control subjects was 1132 +/- 643 units/ml and 43 +/- 26 units/ml respectively. The difference between the two values was statistically significant (p less than 0.001). Four per cent of the patients had serum IgE levels within normal limits. No significant correlation was found between mean serum IgE level of the patients and the duration of the disease. Differences in mean serum IgE level of male and female patients and control subjects was not statistically significant. The mean serum IgE level of patients in the age group of 21-40 years was highest (F = 1.33, p less than 0.05). Significantly elevated levels of serum IgE were observed in patients with both personal and family history of atopic disease in comparison to patients with only personal or family history only (p less than 0.05). As such the estimated raised level of IgE was significant in view of the severity of atopic asthma.
