LEPIDOGLYPHUS-DESTRUCTOR ACARUS IN THE URBAN HOUSE ENVIRONMENT

To assess the presence of Lepidoglyphus destructor in the household en vironment of sensitized children living in an urban environment, sampl es of house dust were collected at the homes where two groups of patie nts were living, as well as in two bakeries in the city of Valencia, w hich were taken as a reference. Patients were divided into two groups. Group A included atopic children suffering from rhinitis and/or asthm a, who were sensitized to L. destructor, as proven by prick test and s pecific IgE (CAP). Group B included children with the same features as those included in Group A, who were sensitized to Dermatophagoides pt eronyssinus, with prick and CAP tests showing no significant sensitiza tion to L. destructor. The samples of dust were analyzed, and the amou nts of Der p I, Der f I, Der II and Lep d I per gram of dust were asse ssed through a solid-phase ELISA with monoclonal antibodies. In Group A, all patients but two showed a sensitization to D. pteronyssinus by prick test and serum IgE. At the homes of the patients from both group s, significant levels of Dermatophagoides were found. In Group A, only three houses showed levels of L. destructor which were comparable to those found in bakeries. Lep d I was not found in the houses of Group B patients. This means that a sensitization to L. destructor, as asses sed with full extracts, is not always an indicator of ifs presence at the patient's house environment; it may rather refer to cross-reactivi ty to Dermatophagoides. Thus, availability of the main antigen Lep d I seems necessary to increase the specificity of the allergologic study .