Detection of house dust mite allergens and frequency of IgE binding following electroblotting and enzyme immunoassay.

Mite allergens, fractionated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes, were identified using 45 mite atopic sera and an enzyme immunostaining assay for IgE. More than 20 different mite components bound IgE and almost every serum showed a different pattern of binding. 7 of the 20 components were bound by half of the sera and 70% were bound by at least 20% of the sera. These results demonstrate a greater number of house dust mite allergens and a far greater diversity of the IgE antibody response to mite allergens than has previously been described.