Detection of group 2 Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergen for environmental monitoring of dust mite infestation.

Aeroallergen avoidance has been promoted in order to prevent sensitization and the correlation between the level of allergen exposure and sensitization has been reported. The aims of this study were to monitor environmental mite infestation and to design an effective Der p 2 detection kit to estimate the number of mites in house dust samples. House dust samples were collected from 6 carpets and 2 mattresses monthly from April 2010 to March 2011. The total number of mites was counted under microscopes and Der p 2 concentrations were measured using Der p 2 ELISA kits. The detection kit was constituted using Der p 2 specific mouse monoclonal antibody as capture antibody, and rabbit polyclonal antibody as detection antibody. Both Der p crude extract and rDer p 2 were used as internal standards. The number of mites in the dust samples was significantly higher in the mattresses as compared with that in the carpets and the total number of dust mites was higher in the summer than any other seasons. The concentration of Der p 2 components in Der p crude extract was analyzed and the results showed that each gram of Der p crude extract contained 53.4 mg of Der p 2. When the number of mites and Der p 2 concentration were measured for the correlation analysis, the results showed that there was a good correlation between Der p 2 and number of mites with R(2) = 0.9667. Dust mites were significantly increased in the dust samples collected from mattresses especially in the summer. The good correlation between Der p 2 concentration and mite numbers indicated that the measurement of Der p 2 can be used to replace direct mite counting. Using the Der p 2 detection method to monitor environmental mite infestation may be beneficial for allergic subjects to prevent disease activation.