The effects of the allergen immunotherapy with Hop J pollen (초)

Background: Our previous study suggested that the major allergen of Hop J pollen, 10 kDa was intensified with generation of new IgE binding components in recent years. The favorable effects of the 3 years` allergen immunotherapy with Hop J pollen extracts were reported.Purpose: We observed the effect of allergen immunotherapy on the IgE binding components which were found to increase with environmental changes for 10 years. Methods: Hop J pollens collected in Suwon in 2009 and prepared to allergen extracts for ELISA and immunoblot. The Hop J immunotherapy extracts were provided by Allergopharma( Germany). Conventional immunotherapy was performed for 3 years with serial serum collection in nine patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma. Skin prick tests were performed three times (before, one year and three year) and the skin reactivity was presented as A/H ratio. The changes of serum specific IgE and IgG4 antibodies to Hop J pollen extracts were measured by ELISA. The changes of IgE and IgG4 binding components were compared by immunoblot analysis. Results: The skin reactivity significantly decreased after 3 years. The serum specific IgE levels were not significantly different during 3 year (p=0.953), while specific IgG4 levels increased from 1 year, which increased further at 3 year (p=0.008, p=0.008, respectively). The Immunoblot analysis showed that IgE binding to the10 kDa decreased after 3 years, while IgG4 binding increased to both 10 kDa and additional components including 95,74,18,13 kDa from 1 year. Conclusion: Allergen immunotherapy with Hop J pollen extracts could be effective on the allergenic components which are augmented by environmental changes. This study was supported by a grant from the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) funded by the Korean government (MEST, 2009-0078646).