title: Effect of cigarette smoking on the humoral immune response in pigeon fanciers.
abstract: Tobacco smoking is associated with increased prevalence of various diseases. In this study, we have used an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to investigate the specific IgG response to pigeon serum and its relationship to tobacco smoking. In a large group of pigeon fanciers the development of pigeon breeder's disease and some of the clinical features were also investigated. We found a sensitization rate of 31.9%, a lower degree than that found by other authors, in spite of using a less specific antigen. We also found that fanciers who are current cigarette smokers had significantly lower levels of IgG antibody to pigeon serum (P less than 0.001). Finally, 11.9% of the population had chronic bronchitis as their only manifestation of possible pigeon-related disease. 19.6% of the sensitized fanciers had chronic bronchitis, were non-smokers and had no other risk factor for developing chronic bronchitis.
authors.affiliation: Section of Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, Hospital Ntra Sra del Pino, University of Las Palmas, Spain.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodriguez de Castro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cabrera
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001716:Bird Fancier's Lung / Q000276:immunology*; D001991:Bronchitis / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D010856:Columbidae; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G