Detergents in the indoor environment - what is the evidence for an allergypromoting effect? Known and postulated mechanisms

IgE-mediated allergic diseases, such as asthma and rhinitis seem to be incr easing in industrialised societies. One possible explanation for this could be the increased use of more effective and aggressive detergents. The surf actants from these could interfere with the sensitisation process in which specific IgE is formed to ubiquitously occurring environmental allergens. O nly sparse data exist in relation to surfactants and allergic sensitization . However, it can be speculated that the strong surfactant properties of so me of ingredients used in modem detergents may interfere with some of the i ntricate cellular interactions taking place along the immunological pathway s. These include formation of IL-4 and IL-5 producing T helper lymphocytes type 2 and the B-lymphocyte isotype switch, which leads to production of sp ecific IgE. Candidates for experimental studies of such phenomena on the ce llular level are proposed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All right s reserved.