STUDIES ON PATHOGENESIS AND PREVENTION OF HYPERSENSITIVITY PNEUMONITIS DUE TO AGRICULTURAL WORKS

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(1) The questionnaire survy of 1600 agricultural workers engaged in various kinds of crops revealed that the average of 6%, from 4% to 13%, of the subjects complained of work-related symptoms associated with hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The highest prevalence rate of that symptom was seen in the poultry and other animal husbandary groups.(2) The allergologic case studies of a melon growers, Japanese mshroom (shiitake) workers and a potato (taro) grower who complained of developing manifestations associated with hypersensitivity pneumonitis following with their agricultural works confirmed that the etiology of those cases was hypersensitivity pneumonitis sensitized by some fungi and shiitake hyphae generating in the work environments.(3) An experimental study was conducted to develop the animal model to predict of allergenicity of the third type allergy among agents exposing to agricultural workers in their work environment and clarify the dose-response and effect relationships of those agents. Finally, we adopted the nose-injection method using syngenic mice proposed by Takizawa et al., and confirmed preliminary that the fungal extract of Fusarium sp. identified in the patient's work environment showed allergenicity of the third type allergy. The result indicated that the animal model we developed was useful for predicting third type allergenicity of agents generated from agricultural work environment.(4) The results of our present investigation and the reference survey conducted to summarize the present knowledge of hypersensitivity pneumonitis induced by agricultura works indicated that various kinds of new type hypersensitivity pneumonitis might being occurred among agricultural workers engaged in various kinds of crops and further investigation for the etiology of that disease should be advanced.