To assess the relation between the total IgE (tIgE) and asIgE targeted against SEA (SEA-sIgE) and SEB (SEB-sIgE), as indicators of the severity of the course of AD, and the presence of S. aureus on apparently healthy skin, in skin lesions and in the nasal vestibule.
Patients with AD had higher prevalences of IgE against staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE)A (OR 8·37, 95% confidence interval 2·93-23·92) and SEB (OR 9·34, 95% confidence interval 3·54-24·93) compared with controls.
We investigated the proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 10 patients with an infective exacerbation of AD and six normal controls to the staphylococcal superantigens, staphylococcal enterotoxin A and B (SEA, SEB) and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and the mitogens phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and concanavalin A (Con A).
We investigated the colonizing features of S. aureus in AD lesions using electron microscopy, the distribution of SEB in the eczematous skin of AD using immunofluorescence, the effects of SEA and SEB on normal human epidermal keratinocytes in organ culture, and the presence of specific IgE antibodies to SEA and/or SEB in serum of AD patients by enzyme immunoassay.