Allergens from house dust and storage mites (1)
in very humid housing conditions, storage mites of the species Lepidoglyphus destructor, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, and Glycypha-gusdomesticus are often found in house dust, but storage mites are predominantly considered a hazard of some occupational groups (e.g., farmers, bakers), where they represent an important risk factor for the development of occupational asthma. Mite extracts are difficult to standardize, have different allergen con- tents, and sometimes important allergens are missing from the extracts, which means that not all mite allergic patients can be diagnosed with the available extracts.
Group 1, 2 and 23 allergens of HDM are called major allergens because they have high IgE binding frequency and high allergenic activity. Der p 1 is a cysteine protease with a molecular weight of 24 kDa. Group 2 allergens contain an MD-2-related lipid recognition domain that can bind lipopolysaccharides (LPS), allowing them to activate Toll-like receptor4 (TLR4). Der p 2 has a molecular weight of 14kDa. Approximately 70–80% of HDM-allergic patients are sensitized to Der p 23, which has a molecular weight of 8kDa.
Der p 10, mite tropomyosin, is recognized by only about 10% of mite allergic patients, but shows high sequence homology to tropomyosins of other invertebrates (e.g., shellfish, cockroaches, parasites, and mosquitoes).
As with HDM, group 2 allergen is a major allergen in storage mites.
