Increased Levels of Serum-Specific Immunoglobulin E to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A and B in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis and Bronchial Asthma

Vol. 138, No. 4, 2005

Free Abstract Article (Fulltext) Article (PDF 188 KB)

Original Paper

Increased Levels of Serum-Specific Immunoglobulin E to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin A and B in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis and Bronchial Asthma
Jyh-Hong Lee^a, Yu-Tsan Lin^a, Yao-Hsu Yang^a, Li-Chieh Wang^a, Bor-Luen Chiang^{a, b}

^aDepartment of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, and
^bGraduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

Address of Corresponding Author

Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2005;138:305-311 (DOI: 10.1159/000088868)

Key Words

Staphylococcal enterotoxin A and B
Allergic rhinitis
Bronchial asthma
Logistic regression analysis

Abstract

Background: The association between staphylococcal enterotoxins and atopic dermatitis (AD) is well characterized. We aim to evaluate the association between sensitization to staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and/or B (SEB) and the development of allergic airway disease. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-four patients were grouped into allergic rhinitis (AR) and/or bronchial asthma (BA) only, AD only and AR/BA+AD. The AR/BA only group was further divided into AR only, AR and airway hyperresponsiveness (AR+AHR) and BA. The allergen-specific and total immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies were determined by the CAP system. The associations of sensitization to SEA/SEB with allergic airway disease were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Results: The overall rate of sensitization to SEA/SEB was 25.7%, whereas the rate of the AD only group (45.5%) was significantly higher than that of the AR/BA only group (24.5%, chi ² = 8.1). After sensitization to SEA/SEB, the geometric mean total IgE levels were significantly elevated in patients with AR+AHR and BA, but not in those with AR only. BA patients had higher geometric mean values of SEA- and SEB-specific IgE than AR only and AR+AHR patients. Logistic regression revealed that AR/BA only was more associated with sensitization to SEA/SEB (odds ratio 6.57) than AD only and AR/BA+AD (odds ratio 2.44 and 1.72). Conclusions: Atopic status after sensitization to SEA/SEB was more closely associated with BA than with other airway allergy, implying that SEA/SEB may play a role in exacerbating airway allergy and increasing the risk of allergic airway disease. Our study suggests that staphylococcal enterotoxins play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of allergic airway disease as well as AD.

Author Contacts

Correspondence to: Dr. Bor-Luen Chiang
Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital
7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)
Tel. +886 2 23123456, ext. 7302, Fax +886 2 23972031
E-Mail gicmbor@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw

Article Information

Received: March 23, 2005
Accepted after revision: August 4, 2005
Published online: October 13, 2005
Number of Print Pages : 7
Number of Figures : 2, Number of Tables : 3, Number of References : 35

Medline Abstract (ID 16224190)

Download Citation

Cited In

For non-native English speakers and international authors who would like assistance with their writing before submission, we suggest American Journal Experts for their scientific editing service.