Allergy in the 21st Century: New Answers to Old Questions
23rd Symposium of the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum
May 18-23, 2000, Hakone, Japan
Editors: Takeru Ishikawa, Kumamoto; Terumasa Miyamoto, Tokyo; Hirokazu Okudaira, Tokyo; Hisao Tomioka, Chiba; Rudolf Valenta, Vienna; Dietrich Kraft, Vienna

Immunotherapy and Pharmacotherapy

Mosquito Allergy: Recombinant Mosquito Salivary Antigens for New Diagnostic Tests
F. Estelle R. Simons, Zhikang Peng

Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Address of Corresponding Author

Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2001;124:403-405 (DOI: 10.1159/000053771)

  Key Words

• Mosquito allergy
• Recombinant antigen
• Local cutaneous allergic response
• Anaphylaxis
• Skin test
• ELISA

  Abstract

In patients with mosquito allergy, lack of a readily available, sensitive, specific, safe test is the major obstacle to accurate diagnosis. Three recombinant mosquito salivary antigens, rAed a 1 (68 kD), rAed a 2 (37 kD) and rAed a 3 (30 kD), from Aedes aegypti have been cloned, expressed, purified and characterized. All three recombinant antigens are shared by Aedes vexans and other mosquito species, and all have been found to have biologic activity in humans. In recent studies, 43% of 28 mosquito bite test-positive subjects had a positive skin test to rAed a 1, 11% to rAed a 2 and 32% to rAed a 3. The sizes of the skin test reactions to the recombinant antigens correlated with the sizes of the A. aegypti bite test reactions. None of 15 A. aegypti bite test-negative subjects had a positive skin test to any of the recombinant antigens. Recombinant mosquito salivary antigens will facilitate the diagnosis of mosquito allergy.

Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Correspondence to: Dr. F.E.R. Simons
Room AE101, Children's Hospital of Winnipeg
820 Sherbrook Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3A 1R9 (Canada)
Tel. +1 204 787 2440, Fax +1 204 787 5040, E-Mail simons@ms.umanitoba.ca

  Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 3
Number of Figures : 0, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 22