Cross-reactivity of T-cell responses to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D-farinae.: Studies with group 1 and 7 allergens

Background Comparative information on T-cell responses to allergens from different Dermatophagoides species is limited even though differences in the epitypic recognition have been described. Objective To compare the level of T-cell proliferation and cytokine production to allergens from the mite species, D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae. Methods Freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from house dust mite (HDM)-allergic and HDM-nonallergic donors were stimulated with the group 1 and group 7 allergens of D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae and the level of proliferation as well as IL-5 and IFN gamma production were measured. Results The proliferative response and the level of IL-5 produced after in vitro challenge with group 1 and group 7 allergens were equivalent for the allergens from both mite species even though D. farinae is not detected in the environment where the study population live. As expected the level of IL-5 production to the individual allergens was higher for the allergic donor group than for the nonallergic donors, however, there was no difference in the level of T-cell proliferation between the different donor groups. Conclusion The proliferative and cytokine response to the group 1 and group 7 allergens for D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae indicates that there is a large degree of T-cell crossreactivity between the whole purified allergens from each species. This is despite previous reports demonstrating different responses to synthetic peptides representing Der p 1 and Der f 1 in a similar study population.