Humoral Immune Responses to Pig Urinary Proteins and Respiratory Health of Pig Farmers

Pig stable dust may contain large amounts of potentially allergenic pig urinary proteins (PUP). In this study, inhibition enzyme immunoassays were used to measure airborne PUP exposure, and high levels (up to 200 pgeq/m3) could indeed be demonstrated in personal inhalable dust samples of pig farmers. IgE and IgG4 anti-PUP were assessed in the sera of 191 pig farmers, for whom also questionnaire and bronchoprovocation data were available. IgE anti-PUP was found in only 5-7%, and was at best weakly associated with respiratory symptoms. In contrast, IgG4 anti-PUP was found in many subjects, and titres were negatively associated with respiratory health problems, and also with bronchial hyperreactivity to histamine. Anti-PUP IgG4 antibodies thus seem to protect pig farmers from developing respiratory symptoms and BHR.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Doekes, Gert, Preller, Liesbeth, Vermeulen, Roel, Spithoven, Jack, Heederik, Dick
Format: Part of book or chapter of book biblioteca
Language:English
Published: CRC Press/Balkema
Subjects:Bronchial hyperreactivity, IgE, IgG4, Pig farming, Pig urine allergen, Respiratory health,
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/humoral-immune-responses-to-pig-urinary-proteins-and-respiratory--2
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