Department of Pulmonology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Allergy. 2010 Oct;65(10):1227-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2009.02323.x. Epub 2010 Jan 28.
Occupational allergy forms an attractive model to study the development of allergic responses, as in some occupations it has a high incidence and develops quickly. In a cohort of starting laboratory animal workers, we previously found 20% sensitization to animal allergens within 2 years.
We compared cellular responses of incident laboratory animal workers who developed rat-specific sensitization (cases, n = 18) during 2 years of follow-up to control animal workers matched for atopic status but without sensitization after follow-up (controls, n = 18). Practically, this is a case-control study, nested within the cohort. Rat-specific IgE antibodies were measured in sera, and allergen-specific and nonspecific cytokine responses were measured in whole blood and in isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Self-reported allergic symptoms were related to the presence of rat-specific IgE (P ≤ 0.01). Cases developed a rat allergen-specific interleukin (IL)-4 response during sensitization, while controls did not show an increased IL-4 response (at visit D: 33 vs 5 IL-4 producing cells/10(6) cells, P < 0.001). The IL-4 response was related to the levels of rat-specific IgE in cases (visit D: rho = 0.706, P < 0.001). By contrast, allergen-specific IL-10 and interferon γ (IFNγ) responses as well as nonspecific cytokine responses were comparable between cases and controls.
This study is the first to show the development of an allergen-specific IL-4 response in adult human subjects during allergen-specific sensitization. This IL-4 response was quantitatively associated with the development of the specific IgE antibodies. Allergen-specific or nonspecific IL-10 and IFNγ responses showed no protective effect on the development of allergic sensitization.
职业性过敏为研究过敏反应的发展提供了一个有吸引力的模型，因为在某些职业中，它的发病率很高且发展迅速。在一组新入职的实验动物工作者中，我们之前发现其中 20%的人在 2 年内对动物过敏原产生了致敏。
我们比较了在 2 年的随访中发展为特定大鼠致敏的新入职实验动物工作者（病例，n=18）与在随访后未发生致敏的匹配特应性状态的对照动物工作者（对照，n=18）的细胞反应。实际上，这是一项病例对照研究，嵌套在队列研究中。在血清中测量大鼠特异性 IgE 抗体，在全血和分离的外周血单个核细胞中测量过敏原特异性和非特异性细胞因子反应。
自我报告的过敏症状与大鼠特异性 IgE 的存在相关（P≤0.01）。病例在致敏过程中发展出大鼠过敏原特异性白细胞介素（IL）-4 反应，而对照者未显示出增加的 IL-4 反应（在访问 D：33 与 5 个产生 IL-4 的细胞/10（6）个细胞，P<0.001）。该 IL-4 反应与病例中大鼠特异性 IgE 的水平相关（访问 D：rho=0.706，P<0.001）。相比之下，病例和对照者之间的过敏原特异性 IL-10 和干扰素 γ（IFNγ）反应以及非特异性细胞因子反应没有差异。
本研究首次显示在成人过敏原特异性致敏过程中，人类对过敏原特异性 IL-4 反应的发展。这种 IL-4 反应与特异性 IgE 抗体的发展在数量上相关。过敏原特异性或非特异性 IL-10 和 IFNγ 反应对过敏致敏的发展没有保护作用。
