Detection of anti-Candida albicans IgE antibodies in vaginal washes from patients with acute vulvovaginal candidiasis.
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.
Regúlez
P
P
Departamento de Microbiología e Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, España.
García Fernández
J F
JF
Moragues
M D
MD
Schneider
J
J
Quindós
G
G
Pontón
J
J
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
D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D000908:Antibodies, Fungal; D007073:Immunoglobulin E