Allergen-specific IgE is not detectable in the bronchial mucosa of nonatopic asthmatic patients

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology Vol. 133; no. 6; pp. 1770 - 1772.e11
• Main Authors: Pillai, Prathap, Fang, Cailong, Chan, Yih-Chih, Shamji, Mohamed H., Harper, Clare, Wu, Shih-Ying, Ohm-Laursen, Line, Durham, Stephen R., Menzies-Gow, Andrew, Rajakulasingam, Raj K., Ying, Sun, Corrigan, Chris J., Gould, Hannah J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2014; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Allergens - immunology; Allergies; Allergy and Immunology; Antibody Specificity; Asthma; Asthma - diagnosis; Asthma - immunology; Biopsy; Bronchi - immunology; Humans; Hypotheses; Immunoglobulin E - immunology; Mucous membrane; Patients; Respiratory Mucosa - immunology; Rodents
• ISSN: 0091-6749; 1097-6825; 1097-6825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2014.03.027

To the Editor: Activation by aeroallergen-specific IgE of bronchial mucosal mast cells in clinically sensitized atopic subjects is an acknowledged exacerbating (some speculate causative) stimulus for asthma, although the existence of the disease in nonatopic subjects, who are conventionally defined as those with absence of allergen-specific IgE, as determined by using skin prick and in vitro tests, begs the question of whether allergens and IgE play an indispensable role in asthma pathogenesis. Because plasma cells do not express IgE Fc receptors, this expression is likely to reflect endogenous IgE synthesis.