Clinical Research Center for Allergy and Rheumatology, National Hospital Organization Sagamihara National Hospital, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan; Course of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Suita Municipal Hospital, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
Clinical Research Center for Allergy and Rheumatology, National Hospital Organization Sagamihara National Hospital, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan; Course of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Allergol Int. 2019 Oct;68(4):440-449. doi: 10.1016/j.alit.2019.03.008. Epub 2019 Apr 27.
Identification of sensitized allergens for patients with respiratory allergy is an important step in disease care and environmental allergen control. The Japanese archipelago belongs to various climate categories due to its length from north to south which transverse the subarctic in the north to the subtropical in the south, suggesting substantial regional differences in dominant environmental allergens. However, few studies have assessed the regional differences in the prevalence of sensitization to environmental allergens.
We requested three major clinical testing laboratories to provide us with summarized results of antigen-specific IgE-antibody (Ab) measurements. These measurements were collected for clinical purposes throughout Japan from 2002 through 2011. The prevalence of positivity for IgE-Ab against 19 environmental allergens was calculated for each prefecture in order to evaluate regional differences.
Test data on specific IgE-Ab of 19,969,753 orders were analyzed. The prevalence of positivity for house dust mites was high and the regional difference was low, whereas apparent regional differences were found for pollen, insects, and fungi. The prevalence of positivity for Japanese cedar was low in Hokkaido and Okinawa, while those to alder was highest in Hokkaido. Higher prevalence for insects was observed in southern areas (Okinawa and prefectures in Kyusyu).
Findings of this study clearly demonstrated regional differences in the prevalence of sensitization to environmental allergens in Japan and the study also provides useful information for the clinician when deciding which allergens should preferentially be measured for IgE-Ab after considering regional difference.
识别呼吸道过敏患者的致敏过敏原是疾病护理和环境过敏原控制的重要步骤。由于日本群岛南北跨度很大，从北部的亚北极地区到南部的亚热带地区，属于各种气候类型，这表明主要环境过敏原存在显著的地域差异。然而，很少有研究评估环境过敏原致敏的地域差异。
我们要求三个主要的临床检测实验室为我们提供 2002 年至 2011 年期间在日本各地为临床目的收集的抗原特异性 IgE-抗体（Ab）测量的总结结果。为了评估地域差异，我们计算了每个县对 19 种环境过敏原的 IgE-Ab 阳性率。
分析了 19969753 个特定 IgE-Ab 测试数据。屋尘螨的阳性率较高，地域差异较小，而花粉、昆虫和真菌则存在明显的地域差异。在北海道和冲绳，日本雪松的阳性率较低，而在北海道，桤木的阳性率最高。南部地区（冲绳和九州的县）昆虫的阳性率较高。
本研究的结果清楚地表明，日本对环境过敏原致敏的流行存在地域差异，该研究还为临床医生在考虑地域差异后决定应优先测量哪些过敏原的 IgE-Ab 提供了有用的信息。
