title: Detection of anti-Candida albicans IgE antibodies in vaginal washes from patients with acute vulvovaginal candidiasis.
abstract: Vaginal washes from 55 women were investigated by means of an ELISA method for the presence of IgE antibodies against Candida albicans. These antibodies were detected in 87.1% of patients with clinical acute vulvovaginal candidiasis (group I), 100% of patients with suspected vulvovaginal candidiasis but negative by microscopy and culture (group II), 0% of asymptomatic carriers (group III) and 33.3% of uninfected controls (group IV). Statistically significant differences were observed comparing groups I and II vs. groups III and IV. The highest IgE vaginal antibody titers were mostly at the expense of serotype A C. albicans strains, which represented 83.3% of the C. albicans isolates. Non-C. albicans species also showed very low IgE levels. No correlation between serum and vaginal IgE was found. Furthermore, a second determination of vaginal IgE levels was performed in 3 patients. A decrease in IgE levels concomitant to a decline in clinical symptoms was observed in all of them after treatment.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, España.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Regúlez
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: García Fernández
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Moragues
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Quindós
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pontón
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000032:analysis*; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal / Q000032:analysis*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology*; D002181:Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000032:analysis*; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D014626:Vaginal Smears
chemical_list: D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D007073:Immunoglobulin E