• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.171-179
• /
• 1999

Non-biting midges are known to contain potent inhalant allergens. IgE antibody responses to the crude extract of Chironomus kiiensis adults, a dominant chironomid species in Korea, were examined. With the IgE-ELISA or passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reactions, increased levels of chironomid-specific IgE were detected in the skin test positived human sera, or immunized BALB/c mouse sera with the crude extract adsorbed to alum. IgE-immunoblot analysis showed mafor IgE-reacting protein band patterns, which reacted with more than 50% of the skin test positive human sera, at 110, 80, 46, 40, 37, 34 and 31 kDa. The reactive band patterns were larely similar between skin test positive humans and immune BALB/c mice. However, the bands of 55, 31, 27, 26, 24 and 23 kDa were found only in sensitized humans, but not in immunized mice.