Ms. Morgan et al., CROSS-ALLERGENICITY OF THE HOUSE-DUST MITES EUROGLYPHUS-MAYNEI AND BLOMIA-TROPICALIS, Annals of allergy, asthma, & immunology, 77(5), 1996, pp. 386-392
Background: The domestic mites Euroglyphus maynei and Blomia tropicali
s frequently co-inhabit homes in subtropical/tropical regions around t
he world. Both species are the source of substances that cause allergi
c reactions in patients.Objective: The purpose of this study was to ex
amine the immunologic cross-reactivity between E. maynei and B. tropic
alis. Methods: Sera of 19 mite-sensitive patients who were skin test p
ositive to B. tropicalis and/or RAST positive to E. maynei were used t
o probe immunoblots or crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE) gels.
Results: Western blotting showed that individual sera had IgE that bo
und to 0 to 17 and 2 to 15 proteins in E. maynei and B. tropicalis ext
racts, respectively. Corresponding IgE-binding proteins of 105, 75, 57
, 18, and 14 kD were detected in both E. maynei and B. tropicalis extr
acts. The majority of IgE-binding proteins did not show corresponding
bands in both extracts. Heterologous CRIE showed IgE binding to six of
the nine E. maynei antigens precipitated by anti-B. tropicalis serum
with individual sera recognizing 0 to 4 of the six allergens. In the r
eciprocal reaction, 10 of the 12 proteins of B. tropicalis that were p
recipitated by anti-E. maynei serum bound IgE with individual sera bin
ding to 0 to 5 proteins. Conclusion: This study indicated that E. mayn
ei and B. tropicalis are the source of both species-specific and cross
-reactive allergens, but most allergens in each extract were species-s
pecific.