Human immune responses to house dust mite allergens

[Truncated] Allergic disease results from immunological hypersensitivity reactions in response to allergens in which the IgE-mediated and T-cell reactions are very important. T-cell populations, particularly T-helper (Th) cells, are the key elements involved in the regulation of IgE production and inflammatory processes of the diseases. The house dust mite is one of the major sources of allergen worldwide. To date, 19 different biochemical groups of the house dust mite (HDM) allergens have been designated, of which two of them (groups 1 and 2) are classified as the major allergens according to their high frequency and high titre of IgE binding with allergic sera. A considerable number of studies have investigated these two major allergens but few have examined other HDM allergens, particularly for their immunostimulatory activity on T cells. The main objective of the study was to determine the importance of a spectrum of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergens in comparison to the major group 1 and group 2 allergens. The study was divided into four major parts. The first part was to produce the recombinant proteins which represent the natural allergens and to verify their allergenicity by IgE binding.