İsmail Necati HAKYEMEZ, Muhammed YANILMAZ, Davut AKDUMAN, Oğuzhan DİKİCİ, Mehmet HAKSEVER, Fevzi SOLMAZ

The effect of Enterobius vermicularis infection (oxyuriasis) on eosinophil and IgE levels in allergic rhinitis

Objectives: Elevated levels of serum IgE and eosinophilia are the indicators of atopy and intestinal parasiticinfections. We evaluated the effect of Enterobius vermicularis infection (enterobiasis) on blood eosinophilcount and IgE levels in allergic rhinitis.Methods: A total of 110 patients diagnosed with allergic rhinitis (with symptoms of rhinorrhea, itchy nose andnasal congestion) consisting of 41 (37.27%) males and 69 (62.73%) females were examined. Forty-one(37.27%) patients with enterobiasis were selected as the study group. The remaining 69 (62.73%) patientsaccepted as the control group.Results: In the study group the mean serum total IgE level and mean serum eosinophil count were 393.10 ±159.83 IU/mL and 0.56 ± 0.04 103/mL, respectively. In the control group the mean serum total IgE level andmean serum eosinophil count were 236.91 ± 63.55 IU/mL and 0.37 ± 0.12 103/mL, respectively. The differencebetween the two groups was statistically significant for serum total IgE levels (p < 0.05) but not for serumeosinophil count (p > 0.05). The correlation coefficients between serum total IgE level and eosinophil countwere statistically insignificant (p > 0.05).Conclusions: More comprehensive and long-term placebo-controlled studies should be performed in order tofind the answer to the question of whether helminth infections play a role in allergic disease.

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