Observations on the nature of the house dust allergen

The Main Culprit in Allergic Rhinitis - House Dust or House Dust Mite

“…This cross-allergenicity was further supported by Voorhost et al, 6 ; Pepys et al, 7 ; Frankland et al, 8 and Billioti et al, 9 In contrast, Kawai et al 10 and Stenius and Wide 11 contested the above conclusions on the grounds that there was no significant correlation between reactions to house dust extract and mite extract. Other determinants were suggested for this non-interaction and included cotton linters, 12 human dander, animal epithelium and a variety of miscellaneous substances. 13 In an excellent review by Maunsell et al, 14 the mite was found in highest numbers on the bedding, slightly lower on the bedroom floors and in lowest numbers on the living room floor.…”

On the Composition of Feather Extracts Used in Allergy Practice

“…C o h e n , N elson and R ein a r z [14] already claimed that feathers form house dust al lergen through an aging process and today V o o rh o rst [28] also maintains that feather extracts exert allergenic activity by virtue of their content of house dust allergen. H il l [22] studied 44 patients, 34 of whom were positive by skin test to house dust allergen and 25 to feather allergens.…”

Skin Tests in the Investigation Ofhouse Dust Allergy.

“…Evidence has been put forward that the house dust allergen is the product of a Maillard reaction occurring in vegetable matter {Berrens et al (i)), and that it is formed in sterile cotton aged in sealed containers {Cohen et al (5), Cazort (4)), while Wagner & Rackemann (19) could obtain house dust allergen regularly by the action of moulds on cotton or kapok. Recently, Voorhorst et al (18) have proposed the mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus as the source of an allergen which behaves like the one found in house dust.…”