EFFECT OF IMMUNOTHERAPY ON SEASONAL-CHANGES IN SERUM-SPECIFIC IGE ANDIGG4 IN PATIENTS WITH POLLEN ALLERGIC RHINITIS

Serum specific IgE and IgG4 in 70 patients with seasonal rhinitis caus ed by Japanese cedar pollens were determined before and during the pol len season, Seasonal increase rate in specific IgE was significantly s maller in the immunotherapy patients than the pharmacotherapy patients , and seasonal increase in specific IgG4 was significant in the immuno therapy patients only, Seasonal increase rate in specific IgE was not significantly different between the patients who responded markedly to short-term immunotherapy and those who did not. On the other hand, se asonal increase rate in specific IgG4 was significantly different betw een them, In contrast, seasonal increase rate in specific IgE was sign ificantly smaller in the patients who showed marked response to the lo ng-term immunotherapy than those who did not show marked response to t he long-term immunotherapy, but seasonal increase rate in specific IgG 4 was not significantly different between them. In conclusion, our res ults suggest that modulation of specific IgG4 response and specific Ig E response might be involved in the early and late symptom relief duri ng immunotherapy, respectively. However, further studies might be nece ssary to definitively establish the clinical roles of specific IgE and specific IgG4 in immunotherapy.