PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mario Olivieri
AU  - Joachim Heinrich
AU  - Dan Norbäck
AU  - Simona Villani
AU  - Josep M. Antó
AU  - Giuseppe Verlato
TI  - Levels of cat, grass and mite specific IgE and symptoms on specific exposure
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3959
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3959.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3959.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - Objective. To investigate the association between specific IgE levels to different allergens and symptoms on specific exposure.Methods. In the frame of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II specific IgE to cat, timothy grass and house dust mite were assessed in 8409 subjects. Participants were asked whether they presented cough, wheeze, chest tightness, breath shortness, runny or stuffy nose, itchy or watering eyes on exposure to: animals such cats or dogs; trees, grass, flowers, or pollen; a dusty part of the house, or near pillows or duvets.Results. A clear dose-effect relationship was found between IgE levels to cat, grass and mite, respectively, and symptoms on exposure to animals, pollen and dust (Table 1). The relation between mite sensitization and symptoms on dust exposure was less steep. A similar pattern was observed when evaluating the number of symptoms on exposure: the Spearman's rho was, respectively, 0.45, 0.45 an 0.19 when considering the relation between sensitization to cat, grass and mite and number of symptoms on specific exposures.Conclusion. Both the prevalence and the number of allergic symptoms on specific exposure increase with increasing specific IgE levels.View this table:Table 1. Percent prevalence of symptoms on exposure to animals, pollen and dust, respectively, as a function of IgE levels to cat, timothy grass and house dust mite