Detection of salivary and seric IgG and IgA antipooled pigeon sera activities in patients with pigeon breeder's disease

Abstract

Pigeon breeder's disease (PBD) is an interstitial lung disease induced by exposure to pigeon antigens. Search of antipigeon antigen antibodies (APSA) in serum or bronchoalveolar lavage is generally used for auxiliary diagnostic purposes. However, APSA can be present in a number of exposed but asymptomatic individuals as well as in patients with other interstitial lung diseases who live in areas where keeping pigeons is a common domestic habit. In this study, saliva was evaluated as an alternative means to serum for APSA detection by ELISA using pooled pigeon sera as antigen. Serum and saliva samples obtained from 17 patients with PBD, 14 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), 19 asymptomatic relatives (AR) exposed to pigeon antigens, and 27 clinical healthy voluntary subjects (CHVS) were tested for IgG and IgA APSA. Our results showed that both fluids obtained from PBD patients exhibited a significantly higher specific IgG antibody activity compared to the other groups. Serum optical density (O.D.) values for PBD were 1.187 ± 0.738 vs. 0.024 ± 0.033, 0.255 ± 0.471, and 0.204 ± 0.346 for CHVS, AR and IPF, respectively (P < 0.05). Salivary O.D. for PBD were 0.801 ± 0.447 vs 0.010 ± 0.011, 0.104 ± 0.151, and 0.22 ± 0.447 (P < 0.05). In contrast, serum specific IgA did not discriminate between PBD and IPF patients. In addition, although the PBD group exhibited the highest values of IgA salivary APSA, high levels were also observed in saliva specimens from CHVS, a group of normal individuals who deny pigeon exposure. These findings suggest that measurement of IgG salivary APSA can play a role in the evaluation process of patients with pigeon breeder's disease. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

IgM antiavian antibodies in sera from patients with pigeon breeder's disease

“…The quantitation of antibody response against avian antigens, as well as the analysis of specific isotypes and immunoglobulin subclasses have recently suggested that high antibody levels and certain isotypes of AA may be useful as predictive and specific markers for PBD (3)(4)(5). Indeed, high titers of IgG and IgA AA reactivity against pigeon serum were found to be significantly associated with PBD and symptomatic breeders compared with asymptomatic relatives, healthy volunteers, and even with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients (4,5).…”

Anti‐avian antibodies and rheumatoid factor in pigeon hypersensitivity pneumonitis

“…Previous studies have emphasized that no single immunological test may definitively distinguish between antigen exposure and pigeon breeder's disease. Besides, no pathognomonic laboratory features appear to separate the HP group from other pulmonary disorders [2–8].…”

“…Comparison of pigeon lung with other pulmonary disorders through AA tests has only been assessed in few reports [36]. Diagnostic evaluation of AA through ELISA revealed that the IgG levels in pigeon breeder's disease exceeded the values of other respiratory disorders different from HP [7, 36±38] and no signi®cant overlapping AA results have been described in HP and idiopathic pulmonary ®brosis [7,8]. In the present study, high values of IgG and IgA were useful to distinguish HP from IPF and RA.…”

“…Determination of anti‐avian antibodies (AA), in particular high values of IgG, and their specific binding to some glycoproteins [2–4] might be helpful for the diagnosis of HP. Nevertheless, overlapping levels of anti‐avian immunoglobulins in asymptomatic fanciers [2, 4–6] and the presence of positive tests in other interstitial lung disorders [7, 8] have limited their use as reliable markers of the disease.…”

Pigeon breeder's lung in childhood: Varied clinical picture at presentation

“…15 Measurement of rate of clearance of 99mTc-DTPA can identify alterations in pulmonary integrity more subtle than those found with conventional pulmonary function tests, and may therefore be a useful test for detecting the earliest stages of the illness. 16 Elevated angiotensin-converting enzyme levels are also indicative of disease activity in these patients.…”