Patch testing with 20% Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus/farinae (Chemotechnique) antigen

Abstract

We find that a 0.1% dilution of 20% D. pteronyssinus/farinae mix antigen (Chemotechnique) to be useful in identifying mite-allergic individuals with atopic dermatitis.

Is the Atopy Patch Test with House Dust Mites Specific for Atopic Dermatitis?

“…No positive APT responses to aeroallergens in patients with respiratory atopy or controls were detected by Darsow et al [3]. On the contrary, rates of positivities ranging from 5 to 40% in AWE [5, 6, 8, 11, 18, 24] and healthy subjects [6, 8, 9,11,12,13,18,19,20,22,23,24] were reported in the past by other authors. Recently, Seidenari et al [32 ]have observed positive responses to mite patch tests also in subjects with respiratory atopy and nonatopic subjects without AD, but with a frequency and intensity significantly lower compared to AD patients.…”

“…In studies performed on APT the percentages of positive subjects varied [7, 10, 14, 16], and this was ascribed to the absence of standardization in employed techniques and to the different purification and concentration of allergens [3, 9,16,17,18, 32]. At present, the technique most frequently employed is the application of extracts on healthy untreated upper back skin [3].…”

“…At present, the technique most frequently employed is the application of extracts on healthy untreated upper back skin [3]. The concentration and the purification of allergens are still discussed [3, 9,15,16,17,18, 32]. The main antigens of D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae have been isolated by feces or bodies (Der p 1 and Der f 1/Der p 2 and Der f 2), but most patch test studies were performed using whole mite culture or culture extracts, because of the high cost of purified allergens.…”

“…Many studies on the APT have been performed [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24], and it is regarded quite specific for patients with AD. However, small numbers of positive APT were reported in the past also in atopic subjects without dermatitis [6, 8,18,19,20, 23, 24] and in healthy persons [5, 9, 11, 13,18,19,20, 23, 24] and that would raise some question about the specificity and the clinical relevance of positive APT results.…”

“…However, small numbers of positive APT were reported in the past also in atopic subjects without dermatitis [6, 8,18,19,20, 23, 24] and in healthy persons [5, 9, 11, 13,18,19,20, 23, 24] and that would raise some question about the specificity and the clinical relevance of positive APT results. …”