Allergology International

Allergology International

Volume 64, Issue 4, October 2015, Pages 304-311
Allergology International

Invited review article
Hierarchy and molecular properties of house dust mite allergens

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alit.2015.05.004Get rights and content
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Abstract

The allergenic load of house dust mite allergy is largely constituted by a few proteins with a hierarchical pattern of allergenicity. The serodominant specificities are the group 1&2 and the group 23 faecal allergens. The collective IgE binding to the group 1&2 allergens can measure unequivocal HDM sensitisation better than HDM extracts although discrepancies have been found in regions with complex acarofauna suggesting a need to investigate the specificity with allergen components. The group 4, 5, 7&21 allergens that each induce responses in about 40% of subjects are mid-tier allergens accounting for most of the remaining IgE binding. Their titres are proportional to the concomitant responses to Der p1&2. Group 2 allergen variants have different antibody binding. Body proteins only occasionally induce sensitisation although a higher prevalence of binding by atopic dermatitis patients provides a new avenue of research. A broad spectrum of IgE binding has been associated with diverse symptoms but not with the severity of asthma which is associated with low IgG antibody. Some allergens such as the group 14 large lipid binding proteins and the recently described proteins Der f 24–33, need further investigation but with the cognoscence that other denominated allergens have been found to be minor sensitisers by comparative quantitative analyses. Scabies is a confounder for diagnosis with extracts, inducing cross-reactive antibodies with Der p 4&20 as is seafood allergy with cross reactivity to Der p 10 a minor HDM allergen. The HDM genome sequence can now be used to verify allelic and paralogous variations.

Keywords

Allergens
Allergy
Blomia
Dermatophagoides
House dust mite

Abbreviations

CD
circular dichroism
nDer
prefix for natural Dermatophagoides allergen
rDer
prefix for recombinant Dermatophagoides allergen
ELISA
enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
HDM
house dust mitel
MD-2
Myeloid differentiation antigen 2
ML-domain
MD-2-like domain
LPS
lipopolysaccharide
TLR4
toll-like receptor 4

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Peer review under responsibility of Japanese Society of Allergology.