Specific Tear IgE in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Autumnal Allergic Conjunctivitis

Abstract

Background: Recently, a new commercial test for specific IgE based on immunochromatography (Immfast Check J1®) has been developed. We previously reported on the use of this kit for tear fluid samples during spring. In this study, we compared the level of specific IgE in tear fluid among patients with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis during spring or autumn and control subjects. Methods: A nonrandomized, cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with moderate-to-severe allergic conjunctivitis occurring in spring (n = 56, spring group) or autumn (n = 52, autumn group), as well as in age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (n = 50, control group). Levels of specific IgE for cedar pollen, cat epithelium and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were measured in tear fluid with the Immfast Check J1. Results: Specific IgE scores for cedar pollen and D. pteronyssinus were significantly higher in the spring and autumn groups than in the control group (p < 0.0001). In the autumn group, the highest detection rate for a specific allergen was 96.2% for D. pteronyssinus, followed by cedar pollen (86.5%) and cat epithelium (25.5%). In the spring group, the highest detection rate was 98.3% for cedar pollen, followed by D. pteronyssinus (51.7%) and cat epithelium (19.0%). Conclusions: These results suggest that both house dust mite allergen and outdoor allergens such as cedar pollen can be causes of allergic conjunctivitis during both spring and autumn in Japan. The Immfast Check J1 provides rapid measurement of specific IgE in tear fluid, which allows easy diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis in an outpatient setting.

Specific IgE in Tear Fluid and Features of Allergic Conjunctivitis

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8] patients with spring and autumnal seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, and found that the positive rates of tear fluid were respectively 96.9% (62/64) and 86.5% (45/52) for cedar pollen IgE, 53.1% (34/64) and 96.2% (50/52) for D. pteronyssinusIgE, and 23.4% (15/64) and 25.0% (13/52) for cat epithelium/dander IgE. 10,11 For clinical evaluation of the severity of allergic conjunctivitis, conventional slit lamp examination is very important and the severity of conjunctivitis has been classified from the ocular findings on slit lamp examination in various studies. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Although the level of specific IgE in tear fluid can be a useful diagnostic indicator for seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, it is still unclear whether measurement of tear fluid IgE is helpful for assessing the severity of allergic conjunctivitis.…”

JACQLQ subjective symptom questionnaire score and clinical test results for patients with allergic conjunctival disease

“…It has been reported that allergen-speci c IgE antibodies in tears were considered to be produced locally rather than the antibodies from serum [19,24,25]. We have reported that antigen sensitization likely to occur in conjunctiva in pollinosis, because positive rate of t-tIgE was signi cantly higher in patients with pollinosis than the positive rate of pollen-sIgE [19].…”

“…2) might suggest nasal symptoms derived from allergic rhinitis have an important clinical or pathophysiological role in the QOL of patients with ACD. There is a correlation between seasonal onset groups of ACD and season speci c antigens [24,25,[27][28][29]. It was reported that treatment of ACD improved the quality of life by reducing t-tIgE and clinical symptoms [30,31].…”

Relationship among total tear IgE, specific serum IgE, and total serum IgE levels in patients with pollen-induced allergic conjunctivitis

“…3 ). Mimura et al reported regarding the correlation between the t-tIgE score and s-sIgE levels against house dust mites and found that house dust mite allergens may be the primary cause of AC during autumn in Japan [ 20 ]. Despite these reports, the lack of significant difference of the total score of food-sIgE between the t-tIgE positive group and negative group suggests that food-induced AC might be induced by the different pathological mechanism involved in pollen-induced AC.…”