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Serum and skin IgA concentrations in normal and atopic dogs |
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| Authors: | RS MUELLER A CANNON GH REUBL PJ IHRKE |
| Institution: | Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis. The author's current address is Animal Skin &Allergy Clinic, Mount Waverley, Victoria 3149, Australia;Department of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA |
| Abstract: | Objective To compare serum and skin surface IgA concentrations from atopic and normal dogs. Procedure IgA concentrations in sera and skin washings of 20 clinically normal dogs that had no history of pruritus or skin disease were compared to those obtained in 20 dogs with a diagnosis of atopy determined by history, clinical examination and positive intradermal skin test. Results There was no significant difference in the mean serum IgA concentration in normal dogs (252 ± 187 mg/L) versus atopic animals (314 ± 327). When skin washings from all sites in both groups were compared, atopic dogs had significantly greater concentrations of IgA in their skin washings than normal dogs as evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunoassay (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the individual sites of the skin washings of atopic and normal dogs. Conclusion IgA concentrations of skin washings in atopic dogs were greater than in normal dogs. Further investigations need to determine if the greater concentrations were caused by nonspecific inflammation or by secretion of allergen-specific IgA onto the skin surface. |
| Keywords: | Dog atopy IgA skin |