Investigating cockroach allergens: Aiming to improve diagnosis and treatment of cockroach allergic patients

Abstract

Cockroach allergy is an important health problem associated with the development of asthma, as a consequence of chronic exposure to low levels of allergens in susceptible individuals. In the last 20 years, progress in understanding the disease has been possible, thanks to the identification and molecular cloning of cockroach allergens and their expression as recombinant proteins. Assays for assessment of environmental allergen exposure have been developed and used to measure Bla g 1 and Bla g 2, as markers of cockroach exposure. IgE antibodies to cockroach extracts and to specific purified allergens have been measured to assess sensitization and analyze association with exposure and disease. With the development of the field of structural biology and the expression of recombinant cockroach allergens, insights into allergen structure, function, epitope mapping and allergen-antibody interactions have provided further understanding of mechanisms of cockroach allergic disease at the molecular level. This information will contribute to develop new approaches to allergen avoidance and to improve diagnosis and therapy of cockroach allergy.

Skin prick test sensitisation patterns in children and adults presenting with allergy symptoms in bangalore - a retrospective analysis

“…However few trials have shown encouraging results. [17] Suggestions for asthma control strategies at the community level include a reduction in exposure to cockroach allergen. [18] Our study reiterates that such an approach could be effective in our country given the high level of sensitisation across regions.…”

Prevalencia de sensibilidad a aeroalérgenos en el servicio de inmunología del Hospital de Especialidades Pediátricas María, Honduras, 2016

“…25 Por otro lado, Xiang y colaboradores encontraron que el moho y fumar en lugares cerrados son factores de riesgo asociados con altos niveles de ácaros del polvo. 28 El tercer grupo más frecuente en este estudio fueron los hongos: Homodendrum cladosporium y Aspergillus fumigatus (16.28 %), hallazgo superior al del estudio realizado en Monterrey, México, entre enero de 2010 y el 31 de diciembre de 2014, en el cual se encontró una prevalencia de 4.1 % para Homodendrum cladosporium y 1.7 % para Aspergillus fumigatus. 29 Esto podría deberse a diferencias climatológica: Monterrey es semiárido y Francisco Morazán posee un zona tropical cálida y húmeda.…”

Advances in allergen-microarray technology for diagnosis and monitoring of allergy: The MeDALL allergen-chip

“…Considering the poor quality of natural house dust mite allergen extracts, we aimed to implement a panel of purified house dust mite allergens that is as complete as possible [48][49][50]. Furthermore, several cockroach allergens were included [51,52]. The panel of pollen allergens contained allergens useful for the identification of the genuine sensitizing pollen species as well as cross-reactive allergens [53,54].…”