Positive reactions to common allergens in 42 atopic dogs in Japan

Clinically important allergens for the diagnosis and treatment of atopic de rmatitis vary geographically. In order to identify the most prevalent aller gens in atopic dogs in Japan, 42 dogs with a clinical diagnosis of atopy we re tested using both in vivo (intradermal skin test (IDST)) and in vitro (a ntigen-specific IgE assay) allergy tests. Allergens used for IDST included 26 allergen extracts from eight allergen groups: trees, weeds, grasses, hou se dust mites (HDM), molds, foods, epithelia, and arthropods. Immunodot ass ay was used to measure antigen-specific IgE against 24 allergens from these eight groups and against fish such as cod and sole. In the 42 dogs, the mo st common positive allergen reaction was to HDM on both IDST (29/42 dogs or 69%) and in vitro testing (23/42 or 54.8%). The second most frequent posit ive allergen reaction was to Japanese cedar pollen (21/42 or 50.0% for IDST and 7/42 or 16.7% for in vitro testing). In both tests, less than 20% of d ogs had positive reactions to molds or foods. Positive reactions to cat epi thelia were frequently found on IDST, but rarely found on in vitro testing. Agreement between the two tests was found in 26 instances: HDM (21 dogs), Japanese cedar pollen (five dogs) and wheat (one dog). In this study, the t wo most common allergens involved in atopic dermatitis in dogs in Japan wer e HDM and Japanese cedar pollen. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.