1991 Volume 40 Issue 1 Pages 60-64
In an attempt to assess whether or not the availability of inhalant allergens for diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases in Japan is adequate, we tested 21 Japanese patients with allergic rhinitis or bronchial asthma against 75 inhalant allergens commonly used in the United States of America. These 21 patients had never lived outside of Japan and came to the United States for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment of their allergic diseases. We determined the importance of each allergen by calculating an allergenicity index. Allergenicity index for a given allergen was defined as a sum of a multiple of each of 4 grades of prick test reactions to the allergen and a number of patients reacting to the allergen with each corresponding grade. Mite had the highest allergenicity index, followed by house dust. All 14 pollen allergens occupying the 3rd through 12th ranks including many grass and weed pollens are not available for immunotherapy in Japan. Japanese cedar pollen which is considered the most important pollen allergen in Japan ranked the 13th. Of a total 25 allergens occupying from the 1st through 13th ranks 22 allergens are not available for immunotherapy including the most important allergen, mite. These results suggest that we should expand the list of allergens available for diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases in Japan.
