House dust mite allergy: environment evaluation and disease prevention.
There are two groups of dust mites, house dust mites (HDMs) and storage mites (SMs), that have been identified in the household environment. Both could induce airway inflammation through activation of innate and adaptive immunity and lead to asthma. In order to monitor environmental dust mite infestation, different methods can be used to detect their presence, such as the use of floating methods, monoclonal antibodies, and nanostructured biosensor. SM could be identified in the storage room, mainly in contaminated food such as mushrooms and corn starch. In HDM-sensitive subjects and mice that were challenged with HDM or SM after sensitization, these mites could up-regulate IgE levels, T helper 2 associated cytokine production and airway hypersensitivity. Different age groups of subjects were sensitized by different species of mites. More subjects above 70 years were sensitized by SM and more subjects below the age of 40 years were sensitized to HDM. Different allergenic components of dust mite extracts, such as Der p 1, Der p 2, could activate innate immunity through activating pattern recognition receptor (PRR) and then lead to allergic inflammation. The best modality to treat HDM allergy is immunomodulation through Treg cells and IgA production. In the recent years, many studies indicated probiotics could increase IgA secretion and the number of Treg cells. However, some studies conducted in adults have contradictory effects in reducing allergic symptoms. Therefore, probiotics confer inconclusive benefits on the allergic symptoms.
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40705, Taiwan. ; Section of Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan.
Sheng-Jie
SJ
Yu
Center for Translational Medicine, Department of Medical Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan. ; Department of BioIndustry Technology, Da Yeh University, Changhua 51591, Taiwan. ; Department of Medical Technology, Jen Ten College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Miaoli 35664, Taiwan.
En-Chih
EC
Liao
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40705, Taiwan. ; Section of Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan. ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
Jaw-Ji
JJ
Tsai
Allergic rhinitis; House dust mite; Innate immunity; Probiotics