Biomarkers of clinical efficacy for subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) on allergic rhinitis (AR) have not been identified yet. This study aims to assess the clinical relevance of serum inhibitory activity for IgE by the method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent facilitated antigen binding (ELIFAB) during SCIT for Artemisia-sensitized AR patients. 19 AR patients were studied who had undergone Artemisia-specific SCIT for more than 8 months (19.68 months on average, ranging from 9 to 33 months). Peripheral bloods were collected before and after treatment. The serum inhibitory activity for IgE was tested by ELIFAB and the level of Artemisia-specific IgG4 (Artemisia-sIgG4) was determined by ELISA. Clinical improvement was evaluated based on the symptom scores and rescue medication use (SMS). The 2-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Spearman rank test (two-tailed) were used to analyze data by using SPSS 20.0, with P values of less than 0.05 considered as significant. The SMS decreased significantly after SCIT (before: 12.79 ± 4.250, after: 6.11 ± 3.828, P = 0.000 < 0.01), the treatment was remarkably effective for 6 patients, effective for 10 and ineffective for 3, along with a total effective rate 84.21%. The serum inhibitory activity for IgE increased significantly after SCIT (P < 0.05) and was correlated with the levels of Artemisia-sIgG4 (r = − 0.501, P = 0.002 < 0.01). The levels of Artemisia-sIgG4 elevated dramatically after treatment (P < 0.01) and were related with the duration of treatment (r = 0.558, P = 0.000 < 0.01). But there was no relationship between clinical improvements and the serum inhibitory activity for IgE. The serum inhibitory activity for IgE increased significantly after SCIT, however, there was no correlation between it and clinical improvements by statistics analysis. So whether the serum inhibitory activity for IgE can act as biomarker of efficacy for SCIT or not needs to be studied further.

中文翻译：

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血清IgE抑制活性与艾蒿花粉皮下免疫治疗变应性鼻炎疗效的关系：一项初步的自我对照研究

尚未确定皮下免疫疗法 (SCIT) 对过敏性鼻炎 (AR) 临床疗效的生物标志物。本研究旨在通过酶联免疫吸附促进抗原结合 (ELIFAB) 的方法评估青蒿素致敏 AR 患者在 SCIT 期间血清 IgE 抑制活性的临床相关性。研究了 19 名接受蒿属特异性 SCIT 超过 8 个月（平均 19.68 个月，范围从 9 到 33 个月）的 AR 患者。治疗前后采集外周血。用ELIFAB检测血清对IgE的抑制活性，用ELISA测定艾蒿特异性IgG4（Artemisia-sIgG4）的水平。根据症状评分和急救药物使用 (SMS) 评估临床改善情况。SPSS 20.0采用2尾Wilcoxon符号秩检验和Spearman秩检验（双尾）分析数据，P值小于0.05为显着。SCIT后SMS显着下降（前：12.79±4.250，后：6.11±3.828，P=0.000<0.01），显效6例，有效10例，无效3例，总有效率84.21 %。SCIT后IgE的血清抑制活性显着增加（P < 0.05），并且与Artemisia-sIgG4水平相关（r = - 0.501，P = 0.002 < 0.01）。治疗后Artemisia-sIgG4水平显着升高（P < 0.01），并且与治疗时间相关（r = 0.558，P = 0.000 < 0.01）。但临床改善与IgE的血清抑制活性之间没有关系。SCIT后IgE的血清抑制活性显着增加，但统计分析与临床改善之间没有相关性。因此血清对IgE的抑制活性是否可以作为SCIT疗效的生物标志物需要进一步研究。