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Thirty patients with mild eczema were studied. All were allergic to latex, but not to Japanese cedar pollen (JCP) by skin prick test and by blood allergen IgE tests. They were randomly assigned so that 15 were exposed to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) for 30 minutes and the other 15 were sham-exposed. After 2 weeks, the exposure status was reversed for another test. The exposure was by means of placing a C5001T (Toshiba) cell phone (SAR 1.62) to their right ear while watching a weather information video. The subjects were not aware of their exposure status. Just before and immediately after each test, blood was taken by medical staff, who were also blinded to the exposure status. The blood was examined for allergen-specific IgE and cytokine (a marker of immune status) production. Sham-exposure had no effect on allergen-specific IgE production, but RFR exposure significantly increased its production. Only latex-specific IgE was increased. There was no effect on JCP-specific IgE. Latex induced increased levels of Th1 cytokine (IFN-? and IL-12) and Th2 cytokine (IL-4 and IL-13). Exposure to RFR significantly decreased latex-induced IFN-? and IL-12, while it significantly increased latex-induced IL-4 andIL-13. The author also examined the blood of normal patients before and after RFR exposure. The exposure had no effect on latex-specific IgE production by latex or JCP-specific IgE production by JCP. The author offers no explanation of a possible mechanism for these results.
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