| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 1993: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000)
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| Research Abstract |
To understand the relevance of allergy to the development of asthma in children, we examined basophil histamine release (HR) with Df antigen, blood eosinophil counts, serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels, and bronchial responsiveness to methacholine (PC_<20>) in three groups of children, including 36 asthmatics with high RAST titer for Df (grouo 1) , 36 nonasthmatics with similarly high RAST titer for Df (group 2) , and 21 nonasthmatics with negative RAST titer for Df (group 3). The amount of Df antigen inducing 50% HR from basophils did not vary significantly between group 1 and 2 (p>0.05) , while none of the cells responded to higher concentrations of Df in group 3. The mean number of blood eosinophils and level of serum ECP were highest in group 1, and lowest in group 3, with group 2 being intermediate, and the differences were significant between all three groups (p<0.01). The mean PC_<20> value was the lowest in group 1, intermediate in group 2, and the highest in group 3, and the difference were significant between all three groups (p<0.01). The correlation studies showed that PC_<20> values of group 2 subjects significantly correlated with their eosinophil numbers (r=-0.49, p<0.01) and ECP levels (r=-0.48, p<0.01) , but such correlations were not found in group 1 subjects.
These results suggest that the allergic sensitivity of individuals to mites is associated with the presence of airway inflammation, and that the degree of this inflammation may determine the clinical expression of asthma.
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