Serum total IgE levels in a representative sample of a Greek population

Abstract

The distribution of IgE in a large randomly stratified Greek population sample was determined in 1187 subjects (793 men and 394 women) aged between 20 and 60 years. Skin prick testing was performed and serum total IgE expressed in iu/ml was measured by Phadebas PRIST: the data are presented as the geometric mean. Subjects were classified as atopic (257 men, 118 women) and nonatopic (536 men, 276 women) according to the results of skin testing with various aeroallergens. At any age, atopic males (120.5 vs 38 iu/ml) and females (99.8 vs 29.3 iu/ml) had higher mean IgE levels, as compared to nonatopic subjects (P < 0.0001). In our adult nonatopic sample, IgE levels did not differ with age (P > 0.05). At any age, nonatopic males had higher (38 iu/ml) mean IgE levels than nonatopic females (29.3 iu/ml) (P < 0.05). The comparison of normal IgE values (nonatopic subjects) from this study with those reported by other investigators revealed that Greek adult males and females had higher IgE levels than populations from other nations. Our results represent the first report on reference values regarding serum total IgE in Greek adults.

Temporal Changes in Total Serum Immunoglobulin E Levels in East German Children and the Effect of Potential Predictors

“…In line with our study findings, other studies have described higher values of total serum IgE for male children [27] and adults [6,28] as compared to females. Kulig et al [1] found significantly higher values in boys, also in a group of nonatopic children.…”

Reference Values of Total Serum IgE and Their Significance in the Diagnosis of Allergy in Young European Adults

“…With regard to the lack of an age effect, although it is well known that IgE-t values increase from infancy to adolescence [19, 20], the trend in adulthood is controversial [3, 14, 21]. The lack of correlation of IgE-t with age in our study may be partly due to the limited age range that we studied (25–50 years).…”

“…There is ample evidence that this value may vary according to the place of birth and background exposure [3,7,8,9,10]. Thus, if the diagnosis of allergy is based on IgE-t, it is imperative that the cutoff value is derived from the most recent and geographically defined normalized reference values for that locality.…”

“…Allergic sensitization mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) is the basis of allergic diseases, and elevated total IgE (IgE-t) – in spite of some well-known limitations – was frequently included as a diagnostic criterion of allergic diseases and other IgE-mediated disorders [1,2,3,4]. The usefulness of IgE-t values in this respect depends on the establishment of reliable reference values for the particular population.…”

“…The usefulness of IgE-t values in this respect depends on the establishment of reliable reference values for the particular population. The determination of reference values can be difficult due to problems in defining and selecting non-atopic subjects, the considerable overlap of IgE values between atopics and non-atopics and the wide variety of factors that influence total IgE values such as gender, age, race, smoking habits, exposure to environmental pollutants and some non-atopic disorders [2,3,4,5]. …”