The total and mite
antigen-specific
IgE in the sera were measured in 60 patients with
multiple sclerosis (MS) and 40 healthy controls by an
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay using two common mite
antigens, Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, in order to study the role of atopy in MS. Neither the total
IgE level nor the frequency of mite
antigen-specific
IgE differed significantly between the MS patients (mean total
IgE 162 U/ml, 42% mite
IgE-positive) and healthy controls (mean total
IgE 168 U/ml, 35% mite
IgE-positive). The MS patients with mite
antigen-specific
IgE showed a significantly higher level of serum total
IgE (mean 293 U/ml, P=0.0005) and a higher frequency of atopic disorders (36%, P=0.0508) than did the MS patients without mite
antigen-specific
IgE (mean total
IgE 68 U/ml, atopic disorders 14%). The former group also showed a significantly higher frequency of male (P=0.0216), a younger age of onset (P=0.0081), a lower expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score (P=0.03) and a lower
protein content in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (P=0.0426) than the latter, while the duration of disease and a number of relapses did not differ significantly between the two groups. In addition, the mite
IgE-positive MS showed a very low frequency of
oligoclonal IgG bands in CSF (4%) and a significantly higher association of
HLA-A24 (87.5%) than the healthy controls (45%). Therefore, the presence of
IgE response to the mite
antigens and atopy appeared to significantly lessen the severity of the disease and the immunologic abnormalities in MS.