IgE antibody to sweat in atopic dermatitis.

Of 45 patients with atopic dermatitis skin-tested with their own sweat, 43 showed positive immediate-type skin reactions to titres between 1 and 256. Of 22 non-atopic patients 18 showed negative reactions. Skin reactivity of the atopic patients to the sweat and house dust did not run parallel. Radioallergosorbent test (RAST) using the sweat collected from a healthy subject detected IgE antibody in 24 atopic patients with a score from 0.5 to 3.5, whereas all the control subjects showed the score 0. This IgE antibody to sweat did not cross-react with the mite extract (Dermatophagoides farinae) or Staphylococcus aureus. These results indicate that atopic patients have specific IgE antibody to sweat.