title: Total serum immunoglobulin E levels in a case-control study in asthmatic/allergic patients, their family members, and healthy subjects from India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Total immunoglobulin E (IgE) is an important indicator of allergic disorders. However, its role in allergic patients in India has not been evaluated in relation to atopic status for a reference range as compared with healthy subjects.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to establish serum IgE levels in a diseased group, study its relationship with atopy, and to compare the same with healthy volunteers in Indian subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and eighty asthmatics/allergic patients, 100 first-degree relatives of asthmatics, and 120 unrelated normal healthy volunteers from Delhi region were recruited for the study. Atopy was established by family history and skin test to common indigenous allergens and, total and specific IgE measurements. Statistical analysis was performed with the help of SPSS software program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean IgE levels were the highest in asthmatic patients and the lowest in the control healthy group. IgE was significantly high in the male than the female healthy volunteers (P<0.05), but not in the diseased group. Prosopis juliflora among pollen allergens and Alternaria alternata among fungal allergens were important sensitizers in allergic patients with 34.7% and 17.7% skin positivity, respectively. Atopic status and asthma were found to be the best predictor of IgE, which was highly significant (r(2)=0.239, P<0.00001). However, at 95% confidence interval as many as 50% of asthmatic patients had their IgE values in the normal range.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The IgE levels in Indian allergic patients is significantly related to atopy, but due to wide overlap of IgE levels in patients and healthy subjects, its diagnostic significance in Indian population seems to be limited.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kathuria
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nordling
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000276:immunology; D001196:Ascariasis / Q000276:immunology; D017164:Ascaris lumbricoides / Q000276:immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood*; D007159:Immunologic Tests; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000947:Antigens, Helminth; D015415:Biomarkers; D007073:Immunoglobulin E