[Diagnostic significance of serum allergen detection in diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the diagnostic significance of serum total IgE, specific IgE (SIgE), Phadiatop, and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma. METHODS: The serum total IgE, SIgE , and Phadiatop were tested in 122 patients with allergic rhinitis. The ECP, SIgE, and Phadiatop were tested in 135 patients with bronchial asthma. Forty healthy persons were used as controls. The serum total IgE were tested by electrochemiluminescence. The serum Phadiatop, ECP, and SIgE were tested by fluorescent-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The serum total IgE positive rate of the 122 allergic rhinitis patients was 37.7%, significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (2.5%, chi2 = 18.13, P < 0.01). The specificity of total IgE of the allergic rhinitis patients were 97.5%. The serum ECP positive rate of the bronchial asthma patients was 65.9%, significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (20.0%, chi2 = 26.34, P < 0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of the bronchial asthma patients were 65.9% and 80.0%. The Phadiatop positive rates of the allergic rhinitis and the bronchial asthma patients were 50.0% and 31.9% respectively, both significantly higher than that of the control (0, chi2 = 32.08, 16.89, both P < 0.01). Most kinds of SIgE were from the allergens, such as dust mite, dust, and Artemisia etc. CONCLUSION: Increase of serum ECP level is an important indicator of airway inflammation activity and inflammation serious degree in the bronchial asthma patients. The increase of serum total IgE has an important diagnostic significance in allergic rhinitis. It is important to detect SIgE and Phadiatop in diagnosis and monitoring of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma.

Plasma S-100B protein in Chinese patients with schizophrenia: comparison with healthy controls and effect of antipsychotics treatment.

PURPOSE: To examine the possibility that structural damage to the brain may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia by measuring the level of plasma S-100B, a calcium-binding protein found predominantly in the cytosol of glial cells. METHOD: Fifty-seven Chinese psychiatric inpatients who met DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia and 60 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) at admission and at 12 weeks after treatment. Plasma samples were collected from patients and controls and S-100B protein was assayed using ELISA. RESULTS: (1) 29 of 57 patients (50.9%) showed increased S-100B level compared to the mean level of 60 healthy controls (p<0.005) vs. only 1 of 60 (1.67%) controls. The S-100B levels of unmedicated (0.119+/-0.059microg/L) and medicated patients (0.117+/-.0.057microg/L) were significantly higher than controls (0.067+/-0.022microg/L, both p<0.001), and S-100B levels of unmedicated patients were higher than those of medicated patients (p=0.024); (2) at admission, S-100B level was positively correlated with total score of PANSS (r=0.269, p=0.043), especially with negative subscore of PANSS (r=0.306, p=0.021), but the correlation was no longer present after patients were treated by anti-psychotic agents. CONCLUSION: The S-100B levels of patients with schizophrenia are significantly higher than that of healthy controls, and the S-100B level is associated with severity of psychopathology, particularly negative symptoms, indicating that patients with schizophrenia may suffer structural damage to central nervous system. The concentration of S-100B may also be associated with treatment progress.