No abstract available.
Blattellidae* ; Child* ; Humans

PURPOSE: The cockroach (CR) is an important cause of respiratory allergic disorders. We prepared a German CR extract in a standardized way and analyzed its allergenic properties. METHODS: The extract was prepared from German CR (Blattella germanica) obtained from a Korean colony, and its allergenic activity was compared with that of the commercial Hollister-Stier (HS) extract. The concentrations of Bla g 1 and Bla g 2 were measured, and an in vitro specific IgE binding inhibition assay was performed to assess IgE reactivity. Proteolytic activity was examined by gelatin zymography. RESULTS: Bla g 1 and Bla g 2 were detected at 405 U/mg and 273 ng/mg, respectively, in the Korean extract, and at 187 U/mg and 56 ng/mg, respectively, in the HS extract. The Korean extract showed 94.2% inhibition of IgE reactivity, as compared with the HS extract. A similar pattern of IgE-reactive bands was detected for the two extracts, indicating that their allergenic components are similar. The proteolytic activities of the Korean and HS extracts were found to be similar in gelatin zymography. The endotoxin levels in the Korean and HS extracts were 3,440 EU/mL and 6,580 EU/mL, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The German CR extract was prepared in a standardized way. The extract produced in this study will be useful for the development of allergy diagnostics and immunotherapeutic agents.
Allergens ; Blattellidae ; Cockroaches ; Gelatin ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Korea

The impact of indoor allergens is greater than that of outdoor or occupational environments. Cockroaches have been demonstrated to be an etiologic factor in allergic diseases, especially in patients with lower socioeconomic classes in large urban areas. Infestations of cockroaches are largely dependent on housing conditions, and hypersensitivity is dependent on exposure. We herein report a 38-year-old man with factitious urticaria revealed strong positive reactions to crude extracts of American cockroach and German cockroach at a skin pinprick test and Western blot analysis.
Adult ; Allergens ; Blattellidae ; Blotting, Western ; Cockroaches* ; Complex Mixtures ; Housing ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Periplaneta ; Skin ; Urticaria*

BACKGROUND:Recent studies have attempted to document the correlation of an atopy patch test (APT) and a skin prick test. The results have suggested a possible role of delayed allergic reaction in the development of eczematous skin lesions in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of APT with skin prick test and specific IgE for cockroach antigen. And we attempted to find the optimal vehicle and concentration of APT for cockroach allergy in AD patient. METHODS: We performed APTs in 50 patients with AD with using German cockroach allergens (the extract with different concentrations and vehicles). The reactions were evaluated after 48 hours, and these were compared with the results of the skin prick test and the total and specific IgE levels. RESULTS: The AD patients who had cockroach allergy, according to a skin prick test or the specific IgE level, showed higher positive APT reactionsthan the non-allergic patients to cockroach. The APT reactions showed a significant relationship with the skin prick test and the specific IgE level (85.7%). With regard to the form of cockroach antigen, a positive APT was more frequent with using the powder form that with using the extract. Regarding the vehicle, petrolatum induced higher positive APT reactions than did distilled water. There was a close relationship between the antigen concentration in petrolatum base and a positive APT reaction. Ten and fifty percent cockroach antigen elicited positive APT reactions than did 1% cockroach antigen with using a petrolatum base. CONCLUSION: Petrolatum is an optimal vehicle for an APT for cockroach because an APT with a petrolatum base revealed the highest correlation with cockroach allergy. The dose-response relationship between antigen concentration and the frequencies of positive APT reactions demonstrated that 10% and 50% cockroach antigen is superior to 1% cockroach antigen.
Allergens ; Blattellidae ; Cockroaches ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dimaprit ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Patch Tests ; Petrolatum ; Skin ; Water

BACKGROUND: Cockroaches are important components of house dust allergens. In spite of significant subject reactivity to cockroach extracts, the specific source of the allergen remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to identify the important allergens in German cockroach whole body (GWBE), egg (GEE) and fecal (GFE) extracts in Korean atopy, and to compare the reactivity of GWBE and GEE by Western blot inhibition. METHODS: Sera from 11 subjects with Korean atopy were used for sodium dodecil sulfate polyacrylamide gel elctrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Allergenic fractions in German cockroach extracts were numerous and distributed throughout the wide range of molecular weights. The important allergens of GWBE, GFE and GEE were similar to each other by using SDS-PAGE and Western blot ysis. The aUergen bands at 55 kd showed the most significant reactivity; in GWBE, GFE and GEE 73%, 82%, 55%, respectively. Other bands exhibiting significant activity were the 67 kd band with 37%, 19% and 19%, the 64 kd band with 64%, 37% and 9% respectively. Furthermore, Western blot inhibition investigations revealed that either GWBE or GEE could almost completely inhibit the reactivity of the other extract. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the 55 kd allergen can be considered as the major allergen in Korean atopy and demonstrated that the GWBE and GEE antigens have identical IgE-binding sites.
Allergens* ; Blattellidae* ; Blotting, Western* ; Cockroaches ; Dust ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Molecular Weight ; Ovum ; Sodium

Four hundred and sixty five randomly selected clones from a cDNA library of Blattella germanica were partially sequenced and searched using BLAST as a means of analyzing the transcribed sequences of its genome. A total of 363 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from 465 clones after editing and trimming the vector and ambiguous sequences. About 42% (154/363) of these clones showed significant homology with other data base registered genes. These new B. germanica genes constituted a broad range of transcripts distributed among ribosomal proteins, energy metabolism, allergens, proteases, protease inhibitors, enzymes, translation, cell signaling pathways, and proteins of unknown function. Eighty clones were not well-matched by database searches, and these represent new B. germanica-specific ESTs. Some genes which drew our attention are discussed. The information obtained increases our understanding of the B. germanica genome.
Sequence Alignment ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Male ; Female ; *Expressed Sequence Tags ; Blattellidae/*genetics ; Base Sequence ; Animals

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is primarily influenced by environmental factors including exposure to pollutants and indoor allergens (particularly, house dust mites). Al-though house dust mite antigens are the most prevalent components of indoor allergens in Korea, cockroaches also can be considered to act as an important allergen. OBJECT: This study was done to evaluate the differences in three different atopic patch test (APT) techniques, and the relationship between APT and skin prick test, total IgE, and specific serum IgE level using cockroach allergen. Methods: We performed patch test in 57 patients with AD and 30 normal controls on clinically lesional and normal appearing skin with German cockroach (GC) allergens (extract, as is) in three different techniques (standard, scratch, DMSO). Reactions were evaluated after 48hours, and compared with the results of skin prick test, total and specific IgE levels. Detailed atopy history and severity scoring were taken. RESULTS: In the GC (whole body) prick test positive group, there was 1263.02 IU/ml of total IgE, and this amount was significantly higher than GC (whole body) prick test negative group who had 549.46 IU/ml (P<0.05). The positive reaction rate to whole body of American cock-roach (AC) was significantly higher in the patient group than control group (p<0.05), but the positive rate to whole body of GC was high, but not significantly high in the patient group (p=0.053). There were significant differences in positive patch test reactions to either Ext or As is between patient group and control group (p<0.05). The positive rate to As is was significantly higher than to Ext in either lesional skin or non-lesional skin in patient group (p<0.05). But there were no considerable differences in positive reactions to either Ext or As is between 3 different methods (standard, scratch, DMSO mix) in both lesional and non-lesional areas (p>0.05). There was no significant relationship between the positive reactions to patch test and prick test to Ext and As is antigen. The APT results showed no significant concordances with skin prick test and RAST for cockroach antigens. CONCLUSIONS: APT seems to be a different dimension of atopic skin inflammation and may pro-vide further diagnostic information in addition to a patient's history, skin prick test, and RAST results.
Allergens ; Blattellidae ; Cockroaches* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Dust ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Patch Tests ; Pyroglyphidae ; Skin

The cockroach represents one of the most common sources of indoor allergens worldwide, and 40%-60% of patients with asthma in urban and inner-city areas possess IgE antibodies to cockroach allergens. In Korean homes, four cockroach species have been found, of which the most commonly encountered is the German cockroach. The pathogenic mechanism underlying the association between cockroach allergens and allergic diseases has not been fully elucidated. Allergenicity is associated with the cockroach allergens themselves, enzymatic protease activity, and ligands for pattern recognition receptors. Although allergen-specific adaptive immune responses orchestrate the cockroach allergic response, recent data suggest that the innate immune system is also a critical contributor to pathogenesis. We review the current evidence for the demographics of cockroach exposure and sensitization, characteristics of cockroach allergens, and inflammatory responses to cockroach allergens initiated through protease-dependent pathways.
Allergens ; Antibodies ; Asthma ; Blattellidae ; Cockroaches ; Demography ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immune System ; Immunoglobulin E ; Ligands ; Receptor, PAR-2 ; Receptors, Pattern Recognition

A study was performed to estimate the prevalence of the external bacterial flora of two domestic cockroaches (Blattella germanica and Blatta orientalis) collected from households in Tebessa (northeast Algeria). Three major bacterial groups were cultured (total aerobic, enterobacteria, and staphylococci) from 14 specimens of cockroaches, and antibiotic susceptibility was tested for both Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas isolates. Culturing showed that the total bacterial load of cockroaches from different households were comparable (P<0.001) and enterobacteria were the predominant colonizers of the insect surface, with a bacterial load of (2.1 × 10⁵ CFU/insect), whereas the staphylococci group was the minority. Twenty-eight bacterial species were isolated, and susceptibility patterns showed that most of the staphylococci isolates were highly susceptible to chloramphenicol, gentamycin, pristinamycin, ofloxacin, clindamycin, and vancomycin; however, Pseudomonas strains exhibited resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, imipenem, and the second-generation antibiotic cephalosporin cefuroxime.
Algeria ; Animals ; Blattellidae ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Female ; Housing ; Male ; Microbiota ; Pseudomonas ; drug effects ; Staphylococcus ; drug effects

PURPOSE: Cockroaches have been reported one of the major causes of allergic disease such as bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis. About 10% of children and 20% of adult respiratory allergy patients have positive results of allergy skin tests to cockroach allergen. This finding suggests that cockroach is also important allergen in Korea. Among 4,000 species, German cockroach seems predominant species in the Korean peninsula. Identification and charactrerization of the major allergen is the first step in German cockroach allergen research. But, there have been controversies. It may depends upon different identifying methods. The aim of our study was to identify the major allergen in German cockroach using Westernblot. METHODS: Crude German cockroach allergen extracts with or without protease inhibitor cocktail mixture were prepared, and protein patterns of these two extracts were compared using SDS-PAGE and Coommssie stain. Sera from 32 atopic asthmatic patients with positive allergy skin test against cockroach allergen were used for IgE immunoblot. RESULTS: Coomassie stain after SDS-PAGE demonstrated some discordance between the differently prepared crude allergen extracts. In comparison with the allergen extract which abolished endogenous protease activity, the untreated extract revealed new 32, 55 and 78 kD protein bands and 41 kD protein band was disappeared. About 60% of sera with positive allergy skin test revealed IgE binding bands in Westernblot. Among them, 10, 21, 25, 36 and 52 kD protein band might seemed important German cockroach allergen. CONCLUSION: Finding above may suggest that endogenous protease could denature allergenic proteins in the process of crude cockroach allergen extract. The 10, 21, 25, 36, and 52 kD might be the important allergens in German cockroach.
Adult ; Allergens ; Asthma ; Blattellidae* ; Child ; Cockroaches ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Korea ; Protease Inhibitors ; Rhinitis ; Skin Tests