title: Evaluation of the relationship between cockroach sensitivity and house-dust-mite sensitivity in Turkish asthmatic patients.
abstract: Exposure to cockroach has been identified as an important source of indoor allergens in patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis. We evaluated the relationship between cockroach sensitivity and other allergens in patients with asthma. A total of 114 patients, defined asthma according to GINA, were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire including age, sex, duration of asthma, history of cockroach presence at home, and total IgE, blood eosinophil count, pulmonary function tests, standard skin prick test additional cockroach and shrimp allergen were performed. There were 84 (73.7%) female and 30 (26.3%) male patients with a mean age of 38.1+10.1 years. The average duration of asthma was 7.7+7.2 years. Sixty five (57%) patients were determined atopic and 49 (43%) nonatopic. Pollen allergen was the most common allergen in 59 (51.8%) patients with asthma, and second common allergen was mite allergen in 43 (37.7%) patients. Cockroach sensitivity were detected in 23 (20.2%) of 114 all asthmatics and 23 (35%) of atopic asthmatics. High rates of house-dust-mite allergy (73.9%) was determined in patients with cockroach sensitivity (P<0.05), while we found no relationship with other allergens. There was no difference for cockroach sensitivity between rural and urban population. Cockroach sensitivity was more common in mild bronchial asthmatics and a female predominance was observed. In addition, there was no association between shrimp and cockroach sensitivity. As a result, a high rate of cockroach sensitivity alone or with mite sensitivity was seen in patients with bronchial asthma in Turkish population. Because of cross-reactivity between mites and cockroach, cockroach sensitivity should be investigated in patients with house-dust-mite allergy. In addition, a high rate of cockroach sensitivity, in terms of IgE sensitization, may be important for the development of new sensitizations.
authors.affiliation: Atatürk Chest Disease and Thoracic Surgery Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Azize
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uzel
authors.forename: Nermin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Capan
authors.forename: Sema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Canbakan
authors.forename: Ahmet Selim
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Yurdakul
authors.forename: Berna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dursun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides / Q000276:immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology*; D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000276:immunology*; D040002:Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus / Q000276:immunology*; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D008875:Middle Aged; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012882:Skin Tests; D014421:Turkey; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides; D016210:Methacholine Chloride; D007073:Immunoglobulin E