Center for Genomic Medicine, RIKEN, Yokohama, Japan.
Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2010;151(3):255-61. doi: 10.1159/000242363. Epub 2009 Sep 29.
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is recognized as a major health problem worldwide, and its prevalence depends on the age range of the subjects. The aims of this study were to determine the current prevalence of AR, effects of age on the prevalence of IgE sensitization to inhalant allergens, and serum total IgE levels in Japanese subjects.
We conducted a survey of 1,540 subjects between 20 and 49 years of age in 2006 and 2007 and examined the prevalence of AR and sensitization to 7 common aeroallergens. We measured serum total IgE and specific IgE to 7 aeroallergens. AR was determined based on symptoms, predominantly in the nose and eyes, caused by aeroallergens as mentioned in a questionnaire and sensitization to any of the 7 aeroallergens as assessed by measurement of serum specific IgE.
The prevalence of AR was 44.2% (681 of the 1,540 subjects) and there was no difference among age decades. Of the 1,540 subjects, 1,073 (69.7%) were sensitized to at least 1 of the 7 aeroallergens. The most common allergen in AR was Japanese cedar pollen (89.6%, 610 of the 681 with AR) in all the age decades examined. The sensitization rate to mites was significantly higher in the younger subjects.
Our data suggest that the prevalence of AR between 20 and 49 years of age has increased by nearly 10% during the last 10 years. Cedar pollen and mites were predominant allergen sources among the 7 aeroallergens in the Japanese population.
过敏性鼻炎（AR）是一种全球性的主要健康问题，其流行程度取决于研究对象的年龄范围。本研究旨在确定 AR 的当前流行率、年龄对吸入性过敏原 IgE 致敏的流行率以及日本人群血清总 IgE 水平的影响。
我们于 2006 年至 2007 年对 1540 名 20 至 49 岁的受试者进行了调查，并检查了 AR 的流行率和对 7 种常见空气过敏原的致敏情况。我们测量了血清总 IgE 和 7 种空气过敏原的特异性 IgE。AR 根据症状确定，主要是由问卷中提到的空气过敏原引起的鼻和眼症状，以及通过测量血清特异性 IgE 评估对任何 7 种空气过敏原的致敏情况。
AR 的流行率为 44.2%（1540 名受试者中的 681 名），且在各年龄组之间无差异。在 1540 名受试者中，有 1073 名（69.7%）至少对 7 种空气过敏原中的 1 种致敏。在所有检查的年龄组中，AR 中最常见的过敏原是日本雪松花粉（89.6%，681 名 AR 中有 610 名）。在年轻受试者中，对螨虫的致敏率明显更高。
我们的数据表明，在过去 10 年中，20 至 49 岁人群中 AR 的流行率增加了近 10%。在日本人群中，7 种空气过敏原中，雪松花粉和螨虫是主要的过敏原来源。
