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To determine the importance of silkworm moth allergens, we tested 267 patients with allergic rhinitis with CAP-RAST, a new assay system for detecting specific IgE in sera. We used the following allergen sources: house-dust mite, Candida, Alternaria, cat dander, orchard grass, ragweed, mugwort, Japanese hops, Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress, cotton, silk, larval chironomid midge, adult chironomid midge, and silkworm moth. As expected, the highest positive rate of reaction, as determined by CAP-RAST, was 73.8% for Japanese cedar, followed by 53.2% for mite and 50.6% for Japanese cypress. Although the positive rate for silkworm moth was not as high as for cedar pollen, one-third of patients had specific IgE against silkworm moth. The positive rate of reaction to silkworm moth was much higher than that to chironomid. It was interesting to note that the patients reported had not been documented as having frequent contact with silkworm moth allergen. Correlations between silkworm moth and silk, and silkworm moth and chironomid midge were found to be significant (P < 0.001). Silkworm moth allergen showed the third highest reaction rate in patients with severe symptoms. These results suggest that silkworm moth allergen should be considered to be important in patients with allergic rhinitis in Japan.

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We developed a novel gelatin particle agglutination test (MLPA) for the serodiagnosis of leprosy; this test is especially useful for clinical practice and epidemiological surveys of leprosy in countries in which the disease is endemic. The antigen used in the test is the chemically synthesized trisaccharide moiety of Mycobacterium leprae-specific phenolic glycolipid I. MLPA is a simple and easy technique having sensitivity and specificity comparable to those of the conventional indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The new technique was found to be useful for monitoring of chemotherapy and predictive diagnosis of high-risk individuals in contact with persons with leprosy and may be useful for the prediction of relapse. We are now preparing to supply a quality-controlled ready-to-use MLPA kit for leprosy control in countries in which leprosy is endemic. Tween 20), peroxidase-conjugated anti-human immunoglobulin G (IgG) or IgM antiserum (Dako Immunoglobulins A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark) was added to the well and incubated Vol. 28,No. 3 on July 15, 2020 by guest