REACTIVITY TO RECOMBINANT HOUSE-DUST-MITE ALLERGENS IN ASTHMA AND RHINITIS IN A TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

Background House-dust mites contain components that are allergenic in mite-sensitive patients, and a number of these have been produced in r ecombinant form.Methods In the present study, we evaluated by skin pri ck testing the positivity to native Der p 2 and recombinant Der p 2, D er p 5, and Der p 7 allergens of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in pat ients with rhinitis, asthma, or a combination of these diseases, who w ere positive to whole-mite extract. Results In all patients, the posit ivity to both native and recombinant Der p 2 was high. In patients wit h either rhinitis or asthma, the reactivity to Der p 5 and 7 was signi ficantly lower than to Der p 2. However, in patients with combined dis ease, the positivity to the minor allergens was almost as high as that to Der p 2. Conclusions These results raise the question of whether p atients with combined allergic rhinitis and asthma, when compared to t hose with either of these diseases alone, are predisposed to react to a wider range of mite allergens, or, inversely whether patients who re spond to the minor allergens are more susceptible to suffering the com bined disease.