Synonyms
Environmental allergens; House dust allergy; Indoor allergens; Mite allergy
Definition
House dust mite exposure is associated with allergic asthma, perennial rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Dust mites are about 0.33-mm-long arachnids with eight legs (Brooks and Bush 2009). In temperate climates, the most common species of dust mites associated with allergic sensitization in the United States are Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Euroglyphus maynei may be found in other temperate climates while in the tropics and in the subtropics Blomia tropicalis predominates (Arlian and Platts-Mills 2001).
Allergen Structure
Dust mite allergens are broken down into multiple groups, 1–13. In groups 1 and 2, allergens are approximately 25 and 14 kDa in molecular weight, respectively. Group 1 allergens are glycoproteins which have cysteine protease activity which may have a role in development of atopic sensitization (Arlian and Platts-Mills 2001). The major...
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References
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Samant, S., Li, J.T. (2014). Allergen Avoidance: Dust Mite Avoidance. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_518
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