Walter T. Kaltenborn

Longitudinal changes in allergen skin test reactivity in a community population sample

A cohort of 1333 subjects, aged 3 years and older, was followed for a mean of 8.1 years to assess changes in allergen skin test reactivity. The overall prevalence of reactivity to the five antigen mixtures was 39.1% during the initial survey and 50.7% after the follow-up period. The greatest increase in prevalence occurred among children and teenagers (22.2% and 19.5%) with only minimal increases after the age of 65 years (6.0%). No difference in prevalence between male and female subjects was apparent, either initially or at the end of the follow-up period. In-migration to the Tucson area was a major factor in determining changes in reaction prevalence. Among subjects more than 35 years of age, recent in-migrants accounted for most of the increased prevalence. Comparisons of atopy among consistent smoking groups confirmed the previous observation that smokers are less atopic than either nonsmokers or exsmokers, probably because of a self-selection process. In contrast, exsmokers were generally the most atopic, both initially and at the end of the longitudinal observation period. The high overall prevalence of allergen reactivity in this population is believed to be due in large measure to high year-round concentrations of multiple aeroallergens in the Tucson environment.

A longitudinal study of serum IgE in a community cohort: Correlations with age, sex, smoking, and atopic status

A number of factors, including age, sex, smoking habits, and atopic status have been reported in cross-sectional studies to influence levels of serum IgE. We have examined the effects of these variables on serum IgE in a community population cohort of 1109 subjects during a longitudinal study in which two serum samples were obtained 8 years apart from each subject. For the entire cohort, mean serum IgE level changed little during the follow-up period (28.9 versus 26.0 IU/ml). Most of the decreases were observed in children and young adults. Subjects more than the age of 35 years demonstrated no systematic change in serum IgE levels. By the end of follow-up (when there were few subjects still less than 16 years of age), significant relationships of IgE to age could no longer be demonstrated in nonatopic subjects. Also, in the nonatopic subjects of this cohort, there were no significant differences in IgE levels between the sexes. Among atopic subjects, there was a clear tendency for IgE to decrease with age, with atopic women more than 35 years of age demonstrating greater declines in IgE levels during follow-up than men of comparable age. The IgE levels in atopic male subjects were significantly higher than in atopic female subjects after the age of 35 years. Smoking was associated with an elevation in serum IgE. In this cohort, the smoking effect appeared to be limited to male subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Respiratory effects of non-tobacco cigarettes.

Data from the Tucson epidemiological study of airways obstructive disease on smoking of non-tobacco cigarettes such as marijuana were analysed to determine the effect of such smoking on respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function. Among adults aged under 40, 14% had smoked non-tobacco cigarettes at some time and 9% were current users. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was increased in smokers of non-tobacco cigarettes. After tobacco smoking had been controlled for men who smoked non-tobacco cigarettes showed significant decreases in expiratory flow rates at low lung volumes and in the ratio of the forced expiratory volume in one second to the vital capacity. This effect on pulmonary function in male non-tobacco cigarette smokers was greater than the effect of tobacco cigarette smoking. These data suggest that non-tobacco cigarette smoking may be an important risk factor in young adults with respiratory symptoms or evidence of airways obstruction.

Allergen skin-test reactivity in a community population sample: correlation with age, histamine skin reactions, and total serum immunoglobulin E

Allergen skin reactivity to 14 common local antigens was studied in a community population sample. Differences in the prevalence of positive reactions were related to both the specific antigen itself and the age of the subjects. For most allergens, peak prevalence occurred in the 20- to 34-yr age group, falling thereafter with increasing age. The frequency distribution of reactions revealed a bimodal curve, peaks occurring among nonreactors and those with eight positive reactions out of the 14 tests that were applied. The major contributor to this age--skin test relationship was the level of total serum IgE that was highest in young people and decreased progressively with age. Histamine skin reactions, which were smallest in younger subjects compared with all three older age groups, also contributed to the age-related prevalence of allergen skin-test reactions.

The relationship of respiratory allergy, skin test reactivity, and serum IgE in a community population sample☆

Abstract The relationship between prick and intradermal skin test reactivity and serum levels of total and specific IgE was evaluated in 311 subjects selected from a general population. Test results were related to the historical allergy status of the subjects. Prick test reactivity to 14 common local allergens correlated with the presence of allergy symptoms. Similarly, mean total serum IgE (PRIST) levels were significantly higher (p

Evaluation of lung elastic recoil by exponential curve analysis

Static deflation pressure-volume curves for the lungs of 104 subjects were satisfactorily fitted to an exponential function, V = Vmax - Ae-kP (where Vmax is volume V extrapolated to infinite transpulmonary pressure P, and A and k are constants). Subjects included 48 who met rigorous criteria defining normal, 35 were PiM phenotype for alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and 21 were PiMZ phenotype. The shape constant k was significantly related to age, whereas an index of curve position was not. Values for k corresponded closely to the data of other investigators suggesting that it was independent of size and insensitive to differences in experimental technique. Elevated values of k, indicative of emphysema, were no more prevalent among PiMZ subjects than among subjects with no alpha-1-anti-trypsin deficiency. The natural logarithm (1n) of k, rather than k itself, appears to provide a useful, normally distributed, expression of lung distensibility.