Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis.  2002 Sep;12(3):192-200.

A Study on the Animal Epithelium as A Causative Allergen in Children with Asthma and Rhinitis

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.jsjs87@madang.ajou.ac.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE: The exposure to domestic animals has been increased, but there is no systematic evaluation for the clinical importance of animal antigens in Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the significance of animal epithelial antigens as the causative allergens in childhood asthma and rhinitis.
METHODS
In 228 children with asthma and rhinitis, allergic skin tests were done with 72 extracts, including 5 animal epithelial antigens.
RESULTS
According to the results of allergy skin tests, 208 out of 228 children showed positive skin reactions to more than one antigens, and 128(61.4%) showed positive reactions to animal epithelial extracts. Among them, 17(8.1%) were mites non-sensitive to house dust and sensitive to animal epithelium. The positive reaction to each antigens were as follows:D. farinae(72.6%), D. pteronyssinus(69.7%), rabbit(40.3%), cat(33.1%), dog(24.0%), horse(16.8 %), and cow(14.9%). The degree of skin reactions to animal epithelial antigens were weaker than those to house dust mites. The positive concordance rates between skin tests and specific IgE reactions to D. pteronyssinus and cat/dog were 89.1%, and 25.9%, respectively. We experienced six patients with asthma and rhinitis who suspected animal epithelium as a causative allergen.
CONCLUSION
Up to 61.4% of children with respiratory allergy showed positive reactions to animal epithelial extracts and 8.1% of them were house dust mites non-sensitive cases. Therefore, animal epithelium should be investigated as a causative allergen when skin reactions were strong and showed positive specific IgE antibodies.

Keyword

Animal epithelium; Children; Asthma; Rhinitis

MeSH Terms

Allergens
Animals*
Animals, Domestic
Antibodies
Asthma*
Child*
Dust
Epithelium*
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Immunoglobulin E
Korea
Mites
Pyroglyphidae
Rhinitis*
Skin
Skin Tests
Allergens
Antibodies
Dust
Immunoglobulin E
Full Text Links
  • PARD
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr