The effect of immunotherapy with purified humulus pollen allergens for asthma patient

Objective: To study the effect of specific immunotherapy (SIT) with purified humulus pollen allergens for asthma patients. Methods: The humulus pollen allergens were purified partially by gelatin filtration. A double-blinded study was carried out. Eight-six patients with seasonal humulus pollen allergic asthma were divided randomly into two groups: observation group (group A) and control group (group B), which were administered SIT with purified or crude humulus pollen allergens, respectively, before the allergic season for half a year. The clinical effect and side effects were observed. The laboratory observation norms included T lymphocyte subpopulation, the wheals'diameter of IT, the average index of HBDT and the specific IgE before and after SIT . Results: The general effect of SIT with purified allergens in group A was 90.7% (39/43), and that with crude allergens in group B was 79.1% (34/43) (P<0.05). Only one patient in group A suffered mild side effect after SIT. The patients' CD₄ and CD₄/CD₈ decreased significantly and CD₈ increased significantly after SIT, especially in group A. A significant decrease in diameter of skin wheal, average index of HBDT and sIgE (P<0.01) were observed after SIT with both types of allergens but to a significantly greater extent for purified humulus pollen allergen (P<0.01). Conclusion: The effects of purified humulus pollen allergens in SIT were higher than that of crude allergens, and the side effect of the former was milder than that of the latter. The results suggest that SIT with purified allergen is more effective than crude allergen in controlling allergic disease.