Relationship between squamous cell carcinoma antigen and the clinical severity of allergic rhinitis caused by Dermatophagoides farinae and Japanese cedar pollen.
OBJECTIVE
Allergic rhinitis is known to be related to the Th2-type immune response, but no sensitive biomarker of severity yet exists. Serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) is clinically used as a popular tumor biomarker. We have demonstrated that SCCA is related to allergic diseases such as asthma. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the relationship between allergic rhinitis and SCCA, which had not yet been investigated.


METHODS
We compared the serum SCCA levels in patients with allergic rhinitis due to Japanese cedar pollen and Dermatophagoides farinae with those in normal subjects. Thereafter, the correlations between the clinical severity of allergic rhinitis and the serum levels of SCCA were investigated. Furthermore, the influence of 8 variables (serum levels of SCCA, immunoglobulin E, eosinophil cationic protein, and eosinophils; age; gender; oral administration of antiallergic or antihistaminic agents; and use of nasal drops) in regard to the severity of allergic rhinitis was studied by a multiple regression analysis.


RESULTS
The SCCA levels of the D farinae group were statistically higher than those of the control group, and they correlated with the severity of rhinitis. Among the 8 variables, only the SCCA level was found to be a predictive factor of severity on a multiple regression analysis. No relationship between SCCA level and Japanese cedar pollen allergy was demonstrated.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the serum SCCA level may be a useful biomarker to evaluate the severity of allergic rhinitis caused by D farinae.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan.
Kumiko
K
Suzuki
Akira
A
Inokuchi
Junji
J
Miyazaki
Yuichiro
Y
Kuratomi
Kenji
K
Izuhara
D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens; D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D032485:Cryptomeria; D040001:Dermatophagoides farinae; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein / Q000097:blood; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D011058:Pollen; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000276:immunology*; D015843:Serpins / Q000097:blood*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D000485:Allergens; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015415:Biomarkers; D015843:Serpins; C051072:squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein