Doi S, Suzuki S, Morishita M, Yamada M, Kanda Y, Torii S, Sakamoto T
Department of Pediatrics, Hekinan Municipal Hospital, Hekinan, Japan.
Allergy. 2003 Jul;58(7):668-71. doi: 10.1034/j.1398-9995.2003.00044.x.
Formaldehyde (FA) is well documented as a cause of occupational asthma. Recently, attention has been paid to FA as an allergen and a pollutant that enhances allergic sensitization. We have investigated the prevalence of FA-specific IgE in asthmatic children and the correlation between IgE sensitization to FA and the severity of asthma.
One hundred and fifty-five children were investigated, 122 of them asthmatic and 33 nonallergic. Specific IgE against FA was measured by CAP RAST. In addition, the patients answered a questionnaire, containing questions on clinical features of their asthma, their living conditions, and symptoms of mucosal irritation.
Of all the subjects assessed, FA-specific IgE was detected in only two asthmatics, and their IgE levels of FA were low (0.42 and 0.46 UA/ml). One of the two patients with FA-specific IgE had severe asthma and frequent symptoms of mucosal irritation, but the other had mild asthma and only rare symptoms of mucosal irritation.
The prevalence of IgE sensitization to FA appears very low in Japanese children, whether or not they have asthma. Therefore, it appears likely that FA is not one of the major allergens causing childhood asthma.
甲醛（FA）是职业性哮喘的明确病因。最近，甲醛作为一种变应原和增强过敏致敏作用的污染物受到关注。我们调查了哮喘儿童中FA特异性IgE的患病率以及FA IgE致敏与哮喘严重程度之间的相关性。
对155名儿童进行了调查，其中122名患有哮喘，33名无过敏反应。采用CAP RAST法检测针对FA的特异性IgE。此外，患者回答了一份问卷，其中包含有关其哮喘临床特征、生活条件和黏膜刺激症状的问题。
在所有评估的受试者中，仅在两名哮喘患者中检测到FA特异性IgE，且他们的FA IgE水平较低（分别为0.42和0.46 UA/ml）。两名FA特异性IgE患者中的一名患有严重哮喘且频繁出现黏膜刺激症状，但另一名患有轻度哮喘且仅偶尔出现黏膜刺激症状。
无论是否患有哮喘，日本儿童中FA IgE致敏的患病率似乎都非常低。因此，FA似乎不太可能是导致儿童哮喘的主要变应原之一。
