Patterns of Sensitization to Inhalant Allergens among Asthmatic Children in Karbala Province

R. I. Ghazal, Mohammad; M. Al-Musawi, Zuhair; A. N. Abood, Haidar

	Patterns of Sensitization to Inhalant Allergens among Asthmatic Children in Karbala Province
Kerbala Journal of Medicine
Article 1, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 1630-1636 PDF (0 K)
Authors
Mohammad R. I. Ghazal; Zuhair M. Al-Musawi; Haidar A. N. Abood
Abstract
background: The patterns of sensitization to inhalant allergens among asthmatic children varies greatly in different countries. The detection of sensitization to inhalant allergens in asthmatic patients is used primarily to establish the diagnosis of allergic asthma. Also it is helpful in reducing asthma exacerbations through allergen exposure avoidance. Objectives: This study aims to determine the most common inhalant allergens associated with childhood asthma in Karbala province using allergen-specific IgE immunoassay. Patients and Methods: The present study was conducted in Karbala Teaching Hospital for Children on 75 asthmatic children with elevated total serum IgE levels. All patients were screened for the presence of specific IgE against inhalant allergens most frequently involved in childhood asthma using EUROLINE Pediatric Inhalation IgE test kit that include 20 inhalant allergens. The position of the band was used to determine the specific allergen while the color intensity of the band was used as predictive for the specific IgE concentration in serum samples. Results: Among 75 patients screened for specific IgE, 60 patients (80%) were sensitized to at least one allergen and allergen-specific IgE was not detected in 15 (20%) patients. 30% of sensitized patients, were sensitized to single allergen and 70% were sensitized to multiple allergens. Cat allergen was found in 60% of sensitized patients followed by European house dust mite allergen (55%). However, dog and aspergillus fumigatus allergens accounted for 45% and 33.3% respectively. Most patients sensitized to cat and dog allergens (55.5% and 52% respectively) showed clear bands signal intensity (moderate allergen-specific IgE concentration). However the majority of patients sensitized to other inhalant allergens showed weak bands signal intensity (low allergen-specific IgE concentration). Conclusions: Animal allergens (mostly cat) are the predominant inhalant allergens associated with childhood asthma in Karbala province with relatively higher allergen-specific IgE concentrations than house dust mite and fungal allergens.
Keywords
Childhood asthma; Inhalant allergens; Specific IgE; Karbala

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