Increased Circulating IgE in a New Parasitic Disease — Human Intestinal Capillariasis

STUDIES of an epidemic of intestinal capillariasis that occurred in the Philippines beginning in 1967 showed that a newly discovered species of roundworm, Capillaria philippinensis, was causing life-threatening diarrhea, malabsorption, and enteric protein loss in man.1 The recent interest in IgE levels in parasitic diseases and the association of malabsorption syndromes with acquired deficits of immunoglobulin synthesis prompted this study of circulating immunoglobulin levels in patients with intestinal capillariasis and in Filipino controls. IgE, IgD, IgA, IgG and IgM levels were quantitated2 3 4 before and after patients were treated with thiabendazole,5 an antihelminthic that eliminates C. philippinensis parasites.ResultsImmunoglobulin . . .