Relationship between serum IgE levels and intestinal parasite load in African populations

Serum IgE determinations and coproparasitological analyses were carried out on 161 individuals from two distinct ethnic groups (Hutus and Twas) from two regions in Rwanda (North and South). The cumulative parasitosis index (calculated for each individual as the sum of the scores for the four most frequent intestinal parasites) show a linear relation with IgE levels up to a plateau, with no clear pattern of correlation between the score for any given parasite and the IgE level. Such a direct quantitative (but not qualitative) relation reproposes the question on the role of IgE immunoglobulins in intestinal parasitoses.