Jo Nishimura

Causative allergens of allergic rhinitis in Japan with special reference to silkworm moth allergen

To determine the importance of silkworm moth allergens, we tested 267 patients with allergic rhinitis with CAP‐RAST®, a new assay system for detecting specific IgE in sera. We used the following allergen sources: house‐dust mite, Candida, Altemaria, cat dander, orchard grass, ragweed, mugwort, Japanese hops, Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress, cotton, silk, larval chironomid midge, adult chironomid midge, and silkworm moth. As expected, the highest positive rate of reaction, as determined by CAP‐RAST, was 73.8% for Japanese cedar, followed by 53.2% for mite and 50.6% for Japanese cypress. Although the positive rate for silkworm moth was not as high as for cedar pollen, one‐third of patients had specific IgE against silkworm moth. The positive rate of reaction to silkworm moth was much higher than that to chironomid. It was interesting to note that the patients reported had not been documented as having frequent contact with silkworm moth allergen. Correlations between silkworm moth and silk, and silkworm moth and chironomid midge were found to be significant (P <0.001). Silkworm moth allergen showed the third highest reaction rate in patients with severe symptoms. These results suggest that silkworm moth allergen should be considered to be important in patients with allergic rhinitis in Japan.

Analysis of CAP-RAST in Patients with Nasal Allergy in Nagoya.

In an attempt to determine the usefulness of insect RAST, 267 patients with nasal allergy were tested with CAP-RAST: mite, candida, alternaria, cat dander, orchard grass, ragweed, mugwort, Japanese hops, Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress, cotton, silk, larval chironomid midge, adult chironomid midge, and silkworm moth allergen supplied by Pharmacia AB. We also performed intradermal skin tests with extracts of 12 allergens: mite, house dust, cat dander, candida, alternaria, Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress, orchard grass, ragweed, mugwort, Japanese hops, and silk.1) The highest rate of RAST in 267 patients was 73.8% for Japanese cedar, followed by 53.2% for mite, 50.6% for Japanese cypress, and 47.6% for orchard grass.2) The positive response to insect RAST was also high: silkworm moth 32.1% and adult chironomid midge 19.4%. These results suggest that silkworm moth, chironomid, and silk are important allergens in nasal allergy.