Humoral immune response to the insect allergen Chi t I in aquarists and fish-food factory workers.

Our examination of 225 subjects who had been exposed to the insect allergen Chi t I involved the degree of allergen exposure, the exposure-associated symptoms, and their relationship to the presence of specific IgE and IgG antibodies as well as sensitization to ubiquitous allergens. It could be shown that specific IgE antibodies found in 34% of these subjects were closely associated with symptoms (P < 0.01), whereas no relationship between IgG antibodies and complaints could be observed. Conjunctivitis (63%) and rhinitis (62%) were predominant, followed by asthma (45%) and urticaria (37%). Antibody levels of patients suffering from asthma were highest. In addition, symptoms were associated with the degree of exposure. While nearly all IgE-sensitized subjects of the medium-, high-, and very high-exposure group were symptomatic, only 57% of the sensitized individuals of the low-exposure group reported complaints. Furthermore, specific IgE antibodies were most frequently present in the groups with medium (46%) and high (54.5%) exposure, whereas IgG antibodies predominated in individuals with very high exposure (69.1%). In the low-exposure group, most subjects (73.6%) had neither IgE nor IgG antibodies. In addition, within Chi t I sensitized subjects, sensitization to common allergens and elevated total IgE levels were more frequently present than within non-Chi t I sensitized individuals, indicating a predisposition to allergy.