Specific IgG Antibodies (Total and Subclasses) against Saffron Pollen: A Study of Their Correlation with Specific IgE and Immediate Skin Reactions

Saffro n (zaaferan), botanical name crams sal/pus, is the most expensive spice in the world.it is derived from the dri ed stigma and pistil of the purple saffro n crocus flowers. iran is thelargest saffron pro du cer accounting for more than 80% of th e world's production. saffroncontains an aero allergen that causes reactiv e respi ratory allergic reaction s in atop ic subjects.igg antibody to allergen s in the serum of allergic patients is not routinely mea sur ed . in thisstudy in order to find out more abo ut mechanism of allergy against saffron pollen, specificantibo dies (ige and igg, total and subclasses) in atopic subj ect s were assayed.we used an elisa assay for measuring specific ige and igg against saffron pollenextract in the sera of 38 atopic subjects (test group) and 20 non allergic subjects (contro lgro up). the optical densities were compared between allergic subj ect s and non -allergicindividuals. the prick test with saffro n pollen extract was used to evaluate th e cutaneou s andspecific antibo dy resp on ses in th e allergic subjects. the correlation was determined bystatistical analysis.specific saffron pollen ige and igg subclasses were found significantly high er in theallergic subjects than the control group. the immediate skin reaction was found positive in70'yo of the test group. we rep ort here, the existen ce o f a positive correlation betweenspec ific ige and skin reaction by prick test in ato pic subjects (r=0.433). a negativecorrelation between specific ige and igg4 subclass was also found (r=-0.576).these data may be useful to und erstand the mechanism o f allergy to saffron and mayhelp in clarifying clinical mani festation s and to prevent ige production as well as therapeuticapplication,