[The clinical significance of anti-IgE antibodies in the treatment of allergic rhinopathy].

A simple assay, based on monoclonal antibodies, was used to measure "free" anti-IgE antibodies or anti-IgE antibodies in immune complexes of IgE and anti-IgE. No significant correlation was found between serum IgE levels and the concentration of anti-IgE antibodies. Furthermore, patients who were successfully treated by hyposensitization therapy showed only unmeasurable or extremely low anti-IgE antibody levels in their serum. However, patients who were unsuccessfully treated by hyposensitization had elevated anti-IgE serum titers. Thus, determination of anti-IgE antibodies might become a tool for predicting the success of hyposensitization therapy.