Determinants of house dust mite allergenicity

Background: There has been considerable progress on the biochemical characterization of house dust mite allergens but the relative allergenicity of the individual allergen has not been systematically studied. Methods/Data base: High throughput microtitre assays for the absolute quantitation of immunoglobulin E (IgE) binding to panels of purified and recombinant house dust mite allergens have been developed. IgE binding and cytokine production to major and minor allergens has been compared. Results: The studies summarized here show that quantitative measurements of allergen panels provide a better assessment of total anti-mite IgE than assays with mite extracts, and that the major allergen Der p 1 induced correspondingly higher T helper cell type 2 (Th2) and Th1 cytokine responses than subordinate allergens Der p 5 and 7. The importance of the knowledge of variants of the major allergens is presented as well recent advances in the characterization of the molecules. Conclusions: Der p 1 and Der p 2 are major allergens of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. The minor allergens, however, constitute 50% of the IgE binding and the use of a panel of allergens provides a better measure of house dust mite allergy than IgE binding to extracts. The minor allergens will also be important for studying the immunoregulatory pathways that lead to high and low allergenicity.