ISSN:
1398-9995
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
In a 2-year double-blind placebo controlled study an immunological evaluation was carried out on 33 patients (15 males, 18 females, mean age 29.2 years) with mite-induced perennial rhinitis who were submitted to specific immunotherapy (IT) with an alginate-conjugated extract of D. pteronyssinus. The behaviour of IgE, IgG, IgG1, and IgG4, antibodies specific to D. pteronyssinus and its major allergen Der p1, was characterized by assessment of their changes m serum, and changes in IgG in nasal secretions during the treatment. The placebo-treated patients did not show any significant variation in the levels of specific antibodies, while in the actively treated patients we found; a statistically significant decrease (P 〈 0.005) of specific IgE, a statistically significant increase of specific IgG (P 〈 0.005), IgG1, (P 〈 0.005) and IgG4 (P 〈 0.005) in serum and a statistically significant increase (P 〈 0.001) of specific IgG in nasal secretions. The IgG response showed an early relative predominance of the IgG1 subclass and a late absolute predominance of IgG4 subclass, that confirmed the model of IgG4 restriction in prolonged allergen stimulation. No correlation was found between immunological and clinical data.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1398-9995.1990.tb00526.x
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