Abstract
Patients with atopic diseases benefit from a high-altitude climate, the effectiveness of which may be related to established house dust mite allergy. A relationship between these variables and disease severity as well as inflammatory activity has not been previously studied. The study objectives were: (1) to assess changes in inflammatory levels for children and adolescents with asthma or atopic dermatitis during a 4-week inpatient rehabilitation stay at high altitude, (2) to examine the role of house dust mite sensitization, and (3) to compare the results for the two diagnostic groups. A total of 115 children and adolescents aged 10-16 years were enrolled in the study: 60 suffered from asthma and 55 from atopic dermatitis. The prevalence of house dust mite sensitization was 36.52%. Urine and blood samples were collected on admission to an inpatient rehabilitation clinic and at their discharge 1 month later. Urinary eosinophil protein X (U-EPX) and serum eosinophil cationic protein (S-EPC)-levels were analyzed. Informed consent from the parents was obtained for each participant. A 4-week period of high-altitude allergen avoidance results in significant improvement in disease severity (as assessed by FEV1 and SCORAD, respectively). A significant decrease in U-EPX levels during that period was observed. House dust mite sensitization did not influence the results. The lack of an association between house dust mite sensitization status and degree of improvement suggests that all children with an atopic disease benefit from such a stay.
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