Comparison of antigenic and allergenic composition of two partially purified extracts from Dermatophagoïdes farinae and Dermatophagoïdes pteronyssinus mite cultures.

Dermatophagoïdes farinae (Df 80d) and Dermatophagoïdes pteronyssinus (Dp 80d) extracts were analyzed for their antigenic and allergenic composition by means of crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) and crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE). By CIE, 11 antigens could be numbered in Df 80d (Df 1 to Df 11) and seven antigens in Dp 80d (Dp 1 to Dp 7). This technique allowed us also to define antigens with common as well as specific parts for the two mite species. Among the antigens of D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus, only the antigen corresponding to Df 5 and Dp 5 seems to bear common epitopes to the two mite species, whereas Df 6 and Dp 4 appear to bear, respectively, specific epitopes of each species. Moreover, Df 11 appears to bear specific epitopes of D. farinae, although it shows a partial identity with Dp 7. By CRIE, on 20 mite-sensitive patients' sera, we identified, for each mite extract, the allergens responsive to human specific IgE. The allergograms show that the majority of mite-sensitive patients react with Df 11 and Df 6 and with Dp 7 and Dp 4. Thus, these antigens can be considered as major allergens. The minor allergens were also identified. None of these antigens was recognized by the control sera. Moreover, we observed that for one antigen (antigen 5) there exist antigenic determinants common to the two species of mites toward the rabbit serum and specific allergenic determinants to the human IgE response. A significant correlation was found between the specific IgE binding in CRIE and in RAST (Spearman coefficient: "rs" = 0.61 p less than 0.01 for Df; "rs" = 0.78 p less than 0.01 for Dp).