[Study on the frequency and clinical significance of positive RAST for mould allergen in asthmatic patients].

Recently, moulds are considered to be important allergens for bronchial asthma. To confirm this fact, 76 asthmatic patients (mean age 12.5, range 6-17 years) admitted to National Chubu Hospital were investigated for 16 different mould allergens by Pharmacia RAST RIA to measure specific-IgE for moulds. The results were as follows. 1) The frequency of positive RASTs (score greater than or equal to 2) varied from 4% to 21% depending on the allergen. Because 21 patients were RAST positive to one or more allergens, ultimately 26 patients (34%) appeared to be RAST positive to more than one of the 16 mould allergens. 2) According to the number of positive RASTs, the patients were divided into 3 groups, i.e. group 1 with more than five, group 2 with less than four and group 3 with zero. The ratio of patients with severe and moderate asthma to the total subjects was not significantly different between three groups before admission, but significantly high in group 1 and group 2 in order compared to groups 3 (chi 2(4)df = 18.81, p less than 0.005) one year after admission. This tendency was already apparent even one month after admission. 3) The frequency of positive RASTs for mould allergens was higher in patients with atopic dermatitis than in those without it. From these results, positive RAST for mould allergen seems to have considerable influence to intractable asthma and atopic dermatitis in young asthmatic patients.