[Behavior of serum IGE in human hydatidosis]

The quantitative assay of serum IgE was performed in 34 patients with active hepatic and extrahepatic hydatidosis, in 10 subjects with previous hydatidosis, who underwent surgery during the preceding 8 years, without clinical signs of relapse, and in 15 normal bloods donors. To this purpose a new type of plate from the market was employed, which, adopting radial immunodiffusion, allows determining quantitatively the IgE serum values at the upper normal limits (800 I.U./ml) besides higher levels. IgE serum concentrations, higher than 800 I.U./ml, were detected in 33 (97.06%) out of the 34 patients with active hydatidosis, in 5 (50%) out of the 10 subjects with previous hydatidosis, in 4 (26.67%) out of the 15 normal subjects. The statistical analysis of the results showed the significance of the comparison between the IgE values observed among the group of the patients with active hydatidosis and those, respectively, of the subjects with previous hydatidosis (p less than 0.05) and of the normal subjects (p less than 0.001). The results obtained are discussed in the light of the most recent knowledge on the role played by IgE in the complex immune mechanism of parasitic diseases.