Publication Date
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Larry Arlian (Advisor), Scott Baird (Committee Member), Barbara Hull (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus culture extracts are used for skin testing, immunotherapy and research studies. There is a need to develop an effective culture method so that standardized extracts and allergens can be produced. The purpose of this study was to examine if different diets effect mite population growth and the amount of allergen produced in cultures. Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were cultured on diets A and B. The density of mites, life stage composition and allergen concentration was determined at two week intervals. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assays (ELISA) were used to assess group 1 and group 2 allergen concentrations. This study showed that diet is an important factor for culturing of mites. Diet B was found to be better suited to culture Dermatophagoides farinae whereas diet A was better for culturing of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Diet A cultures of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus produced greater concentrations of group 2 allergen than diet B.
Page Count
116
Department or Program
Department of Biological Sciences
Year Degree Awarded
2009
Copyright
Copyright 2009, some rights reserved. My ETD may be copied and distributed only for non-commercial purposes and may be modified only if the modified version is distributed with these same permissions. All use must give me credit as the original author.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
