Studies in atopic asthma with emphasis on correlation among various tests and various antibodies

The prick-test titration, allergen provocation test, acetylcholine inhalation test, total serum IgE measurement, histamine release test, and serum IgE, IgG, IgA, and IgM antibody determinations were carried out in atopic asthmatic patients who had never received immunotherapy with mite extract. Comparison of these procedures shows good correlation between them. Skin-test titration appears to be a fairly accurate and reliable method to determine causative allergens. The antigen inhalation provocation test tends to be positive among subjects with low thresholds to acetylcholine. This indicates that patients with airway tracts hyperreactive to acetylcholine are prone to asthma attacks even with exposure to small amounts of specific allergen and probably to various stimuli. Atopic subjects produce more IgE antibody and other antibodies than nonatopic subjects do. The quantity of specific antibodies to mite was lowest for IgM in atopic subjects.