Dictionary of Allergies .. Mosquito allergy

Mosquito allergy

Allergic reactions, including severe local and systemic reactions to mosquito bites, are immunological in nature, and involve immunoglobulin E, immunoglobulin G, and T-lymphocyte-mediated hypersensitivities in response to allergens in mosquito saliva.

Naturally acquired desensitization to mosquito saliva may occur during childhood or during long-term exposure to mosquitoes. Due to the lack of availability of mosquito salivary preparations for use in skin tests and in-vitro tests, allergic reactions to mosquito bites are under diagnosed and under treated. Recombinant Aedes aegypti salivary allergen rAed a 2 has been expressed, purified, characterized and used in in-vitro diagnosis of mosquito allergy.

Mosquito saliva-induced non-immunoglobulin E-mediated skin mast cell degranulation was found to induce macrophage-inflammatory protein 2 in the skin and interleukin-10 in draining lymph nodes. Eventually, recombinant salivary allergens will significantly improve the diagnosis of mosquito allergy, and will also improve specific immunotherapy for patients with systemic reactions to mosquito bites.

References

Peng Z, Simons FE. Advances in mosquito allergy. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Aug;7(4):350-4.