House dust mites known to be an allergen source for 50 years: Der p 1 still detectable in the original sample

house dust mites – stability of the mite aller-gen – history of house dust allergy House dust mites known to be an allergen source for 50 years: Der p 1 still detectable in the original sample To the Editors: A German-language publication that appeared 50 years ago (October 1964) can be considered a milestone in the history of allergology: Reindert Voor-horst and the married couple Frits T. Spieksma and Marise I. Spieksma-Boezemanin – both biologists in Voorhorst's laboratory –reported in the Leipzig journal Allergie und Asthma for the rst time that house dust mites are the actual source of " house dust allergens " [1]. ey documented the presence of house dust mites in dust samples taken from homes in the Juliana-Straße in Leiden, Germany, which was responsible for causing asthma symptoms. At the same time, Frau Spieksma-Boezema-nin was able to prove that the number of mites in damp houses was greater than in dry houses. House dust had been suspected as an asthma trigger for 300 years. As early as in 1698, Sir John Floyer (1649–1734) made a detailed description of bronchial asthma, which could be caused " by the smallest amount of dust while sweeping a room or making beds " [2]. However, it took another 125 years before anyone started to understand this " house dust asthma. " It was a well-known diagnostic problem that skin tests with house dust extracts were o en negative, whilst the dust samples themselves could cause asthma attacks. Was it really the house dust that was causing asthma or were other, possibly climatic factors responsible? is question was answered in 1923 by van Wil-lem Storm van Leeuwen (1882–1933) in an experiment that was as simple as it was clinically impressive. Within only a few days of arriving in St. Moritz, Switzerland, three Dutch house dust mite allergy su erers were free of their asthma symptoms. However , upon inhaling dust from a tin containing house dust from their homes, their asthma symptoms reappeared even in St. Moritz. us, the cause of their asthma lay in the dust from their own homes [3], not in the dust at the hotel in St. Moritz. In 1931, although Peipers suspected the presence of numerous allergens in house dust [4], he was unable to identify the actual allergen source. e former Allergy Documentation Center (Aller-gie-Dokumentations-Zentrum, ADIZ) received a very special gi from Mr. and Mrs. …