Allergenic importance of 22 species of Japanese chironomid midges

Abstract

Twenty-two Japanese chironomid species were examined for their allergenicities using ELISA with the sera of 32 asthmatic patients. The species Paratrichocladius rufiventris and Cricotopus sylvestris showed high positive rates of specific IgE, high average IgE reactivities and high frequencies of strong IgE reactivity and the highest IgE reactivity of the 22 species, suggesting a high rate of contact with humans and the possession of highly allergenic components by these two species. In contrast, Tanypus punctipennis and Rheotanytarsus kyotoensis showed low allergenicities, suggesting a low level of human contact and/or a lack of allergenic components. Furthermore, species that emerge from eutrophic waters in a large mass, such as Macropelopia paranebulosa, Paratrichocladius rufiventris and Chironomus yoshimatsui, showed strong allergenicities in all the tests. This suggests that eutrophic water be regarded as an important reservoir to allergenic chironomids.