Comparative IgE responses to extracts of five species of house dust mite, using Western blotting

IgE responses towards extracts of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, D. farinae, D. microceras, Euroglyphus maynei and Gymnoglyphus longior have been evaluated with sera from a mite sensitive population and the international reference pool of sera, NIBSC 82/528, using Western blotting. Using mite body and faecal extracts 21 of 29 mite protein bands responded to by sera were common to all five species of mite. All sera were unique with respect to proteins bound and species recognized. Mite proteins bound by more than 40% of sera included the Group II and III main allergens and protein bands 14 (MW 40.4 kD) and 21 (MW 27.8 kD), all of which were found in every mite species studied. The Group I allergen, found in all species, was bound by 29.4% of sera. Similar response profiles between mite species suggest that human specific IgE may bind predominantly to crossreactive determinants on mite allergens.