Salah El-Din Ahmed Badr-El-Din and Hanan Hosny Nouh.
Department of internal medicine, Faculty of medicine, Alexandria University.
The aim of this work was to assess
the occurrence rate of atopy among patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). It
was carried out by answering a questionnaire of symptoms associated with atopy,
skin prick test for 5 common allergens, and by measuring serum total IgE level.
The work included 63 patients with UC (22 of whom had only ulcerative proctitis
UP) and 52 age- matched controls. Analysis for atopic symptoms and serum IgE
levels, showed no differences between patients and controls. In both groups,
the percentage of positive skin test was higher in young (<30 years) as
compared to old (>30 years) subjects. Considering the age distribution
within the groups, there was no difference between controls and UC or UP, in
the frequency of positive skin test. These findings do not support the
hypothesis that reaginic hypersensitivity plays a significant role in the pathogenesis
of ulcerative colitis.