REDUCED RESPONSES OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES TO HEAT-DENATURED FOOD ANTIGENS IN FOOD-SENSITIVE ATOPIC-DERMATITIS

Although some patients with food-sensitive atopic dermatitis exhibit a llergic symptoms to certain raw foods, they do not exhibit or scarcely exhibit allergic symptoms to boiled or cooked foods. In this study, a lthough peripheral blood mononuclear cells responded to raw food antig ens (ovalbumin or bovine serum albumin), the proliferative responses o f peripheral blood mononuclear cells were reduced in heat-denatured fo od antigen-stimulation, in the hen egg- or cow milk-sensitive patients with atopic dermatitis who did not exhibit or scarcely exhibited alle rgic symptoms to the boiled or cooked foods although the patients exhi bited allergic symptoms to the raw foods. Our results show that prolif erative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to heat-denatu red food antigens are good parameters for diet counseling in food hype rsensitivity.