title: Circulating levels of IgG1 and IgG4 anti-IgE antibodies and asthma severity.
abstract: In this paper, we have determined the levels of IgG1 and IgG4 anti-IgE in the sera of 66 asthma patients suffering from mild (n = 24), moderate (n = 23), or severe (n = 19) symptoms, and 20 nonatopic, healthy subjects. The study has revealed that although asthma patients have significantly elevated levels of IgG1 and IgG4 anti-IgE antibodies, the concentration of these autoantibodies is not related to the severity of asthma. This conclusion may be related to the known heterogeneity of autoanti-IgE antibodies in terms of their ability to trigger basophil histamine release.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shakib
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sihoe
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wilding
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knox
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007073:Immunoglobulin E