一元平板免疫拡散法による鼻アレルギー患者の血清IgEの測定

THE MESUREMENT OF SERUM IgE IN PATIENTS AFFECTED WITH ALLERGIC RHINITIS THROUGH A SINGLE RADIAL IMMUNODIFFUSION

　Ⅰ．緒言

　石坂ら^1）2）はreaginic antibody activityはIgEが持つことを主張していたが，Johansson^3）4）らによつてIgE Myeloma（IgND）が発見され，新しい免疫グロブリンIgEの存在が確認されて以来，アレルギー疾患とIgEの関係は注目されるところとなり，アトピー性疾患（皮膚炎，喘息，鼻アレルギー），蛔虫症などで血中IgEが増加していることがわかつて，現在血中IgE測定の臨床的意義が論議されている。最初に血清IgEを測定したのはJohanssonら^5）で，radioimmunoadsorbent assayによつて行なわれたが，この方法では既知濃度のIgEを必要とするこど，また放射性物質を使用しなければならないというところから，IgEの測定は一般には大変困難なことであつた。しかしRowe^6）によりslnglc radial immunodiffusionでも定量が可能なことが示され，その後改良も加えられて，日本においても容易に測定できるようになつてきた。今回われわれはsingle radial immunodiffusionによつて鼻アレルギー患者の血中IgEを測定したので報告する。

　The clinical significance of the measurement of serum IgE concentrations in various diseases has been discussed since the discovery of a new immunoglobulin E as a carrier of reaginic antibody activities.

　The serum IgE concentrations in 20 normal adults and in 74 patients diagnosed as allergic rhinitis were tested by a single radial immunodiffusion. Four hundred ng/ml was tentatively determined to be the top limit of normal IgE concentrations from the measurements in 20 normal sera. Forty eight patients had positive allergic histories and positive skin tests (allergic), while, 25 patients had negative histories and negative skin tests (non-allergic). Atopic backgrounds from past and family histories were found in 47 patients, but none in the residual 25 patients.

　The 28 in 48 allergic patients (57%) and 8 in 25 non-allergic individuals (32%) had the IgE levels over 400 ng/ml, and the raised IgE levels were found in 20 of 47 atopic patients (43%) and 2 of 25 non-atopic patients (8%).

　These results were similar to the earlier reports. As the diffusion method used in this study is simple and has the sensitivity to measure from 200 to 10,000 ng/ml of serum IgE, the present method is considered as useful in confirming clinically the elevated IgE concentrations in various diseases.