Working with male rodents may increase risk of allergy to laboratory animals

Our aim was to study the risk of laboratory animal allergy (LAA) among research staff working in laboratories separate from the animal confinement area. The roles of atopy and exposure intensity in LAA were studied with special regard to exposure to male rodents, who excrete higher levels of urinary...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Allergy (Copenhagen) 2001-10, Vol.56 (10), p.964-970
Main Authors: RENSTRÖM, A, KARLSSON, A.-S, MALMBERG, P, LARSSON, P. H, VAN HAGE-HAMSTEN, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Allergic diseases
Animal Technicians
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Female
General aspects
Humans
Hypersensitivity - etiology
Hypersensitivity - immunology
Immunoglobulin E - blood
Immunopathology
laboratory animals
Male
Medical sciences
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Occupational Exposure - adverse effects
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Rodentia
Sex Factors
Statistics, Nonparametric
Workplace
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Summary:Our aim was to study the risk of laboratory animal allergy (LAA) among research staff working in laboratories separate from the animal confinement area. The roles of atopy and exposure intensity in LAA were studied with special regard to exposure to male rodents, who excrete higher levels of urinary allergens than female rodents. Eighty rodent-exposed subjects gave blood samples for the analysis of total IgE, Phadiatop, and specific IgE against rat (RUA) and mouse urinary allergens (MUA), and answered questionnaires. Air samples were collected for RUA and MUA aeroallergen measurement in both laboratories and animal confinement facilities. Twenty percent of the subjects had IgE >0.35 kU/l to RUA and/or MUA, and 32% had experienced animal work-related symptoms, although 90% of aeroallergen samples from the research department laboratories were below the detection limit (
ISSN:0105-4538
1398-9995
DOI:10.1034/j.1398-9995.2001.00899.x