Heightened IgE response to mite antigens in inflammatory neuropathies

In order to clarify the IgE response to common environmental antigens, we measured the serum total IgE and allergen-specific IgE in 50 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), nine patients with Fisher syndrome (FS), 14 patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), 18 patients with mononeuritis multiplex (MNM), 43 patients with neurodegenerative disorders and 82 healthy controls by ELISA. The total IgE level was significantly higher in patients with GBS (median = 135 U/ml, P<0.05), CIDP (median = 175 U/ml, P<0.05) and MNM (median= 199 U/ml, P<0.05), than in the healthy controls (median = 79 U/ml), but not in those patients with neurodegenerative disorders. The specific IgE to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was significantly higher in the patients with GBS (56%, P<0.01) and MNM (72%, P<0.005) than in the healthy controls (32%). The level of specific IgE to Dermatophagoides farinae tended to be higher in the patients with GBS than in the healthy controls (0.05