Lymphocyte responses to food antigens in patients with atopic dermatitis who are sensitive to foods.

The proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to ovalbumin or bovine serum albumin in children with atopic dermatitis (AD) who are sensitive to hen's egg or cow's milk were significantly higher than responses of PBMCs of healthy children and hen's egg- or cow's milk-sensitive children with immediate symptoms. However, the percentages of positive RAST for hen's egg or cow's milk in the patients with AD were lower than percentages in the patients with immediate symptoms. In the patients with AD, there were no significant correlations between the proliferative responses of PBMCs and the RAST values. There were no significant differences of RAST scores among groups of patients having different degrees of severity of AD. The proliferative responses of PBMCs to ovalbumin or bovine serum albumin in patients with severe AD or moderate AD who were sensitive to hen's egg or cow's milk tended to be higher than responses of patients with mild AD, respectively, but there were no significant differences in those results. Taken together, the combination of RAST and the detection of proliferative responses of PBMCs to each food antigen is very useful in the diagnosis of hypersensitivity in children with AD who are sensitive to food allergens.