Longª²term effect evaluation of antigen specific immunotherapy for patients with pollen allergy

    LIN Xiaoª²Ping, HE Shaoª²Heng, GAO Jun, CHI Xiuª²Li

    1The PLA Center of Respiratory and Allergic Disease Diagnosis and Management, General Hospital, Shenyang Military Command, Shenyang 110016, China, 2Research Institute of Allergy and Inflammation, Medical College, Shantou University, Shantou 515031, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of allergen specific immunotherapy (SIT) in treating patients with pollinosis. METHODS: A total of 235 patients with pollen allergy were recruited into the study and were randomly divided into two groups: SIT group with subgroups: allergic rhinitis group (n=65) and allergic rhinitis + asthma group (n=60), and ST (symptomatic therapy) group with subgroups: allergic rhinitis group (n=56) and allergic rhinitis + asthma group (n=54). Fortyª²three healthy individuals were taken as controls. The levels of serum total IgE (tIgE), specific IgE (sIgE) and eosinophil cantionic protein (ECP) were determined with Uni CAP system. IgG was measured and eosinophil numbers were counted. The aboveª²mentioned indices, lung function indices, symptomatic score and skin test results were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: The elevated levels of tIgE, sIgE, ECP and tIgE: IgG in the sera and eosinophil counts in peripheral blood of the patients were significantly reduced, whereas the level of IgG increased following treatment with SIT. Lung function, symptomatic score and skin test result all improved after the treatment with SIT. Approximately 40% of the patients were clinically cured and 57.7% responded to SIT. Only 2.3% remained unchanged and about 8.9% patients suffered side effects of SIT. No changes in the aboveª²mentioned indices were observed in ST group. CONCLUSION: SIT can improve the symptoms of the patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma by increasing the level of serum IgG, decreasing the IgE and inhibiting the eosinophil counts in peripheral blood. ......