S66 Abstracts J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL

FEBRUARY 2004
SATURDAY

166 Comparison of Chemosensory Function and Psychological

Profile in Patients With Idiopathic Environmental Intoler-
ances (IEI)/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Odorant Sen-
sitive and Insensitive Controls
D. Papo1, B. Eberlein-Koenig2, H. Berresheim3, J. Huss-Marp1, V.
Grimm1, J. Walkowiak3, U. Kraemer3, J. Ring2, G. Winneke3, H.
Behrendt1; 1Division of Environmental Dermatology and Allergology,
GSF/TUM, Neuherberg-Munich, Munich, GERMANY, 2Department of
Dermatology and Allergy Biederstein, Technical University, Munich,
GERMANY, 3Medical Institute of Environmental Hygiene, Heinrich-
Heine University, Düsseldorf, GERMANY.
RATIONALE: Since patients with Idiopathic Environmental Intoler-
ances frequently report unspecific polysomatic complaints effected by
odorants we addressed the question if they differ from subjectively olfac-
tory sensitive subjects not reporting IEI and subjectively insensitive con-
trols regarding chemosensory, cognitive and clinical psychological para-
meters.
METHODS: In an age-and-gender matched case control study 23
patients with IEI, 21 subjectively olfactory sensitive subjects and 23 sub-
jectively insensitive controls have been investigated. Chemosensory event
related potentials (CSERP) have been recorded and the olfactory thresh-
old for n-butanol and the odor identification have been determinated by
means of Sniffin’ Sticks. A trigeminal provocation with menthol by later-
alized stimulus presentation has been performed. Psychometric instru-
ments such as a questionnaire about subjective feeling regarding olfac-
tometry, the List of Complaints (BL), the Symptom Check List 90
Revised (SCL-90-R), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-G) and the
MCS-questionnaire regarding symptoms and triggers were filled in by the
participants.
RESULTS: The olfactometric investigations showed no significant dif-
ferences between the study groups. The IEI collective reached signifi-
cantly higher scores on negative subjective feeling regarding olfactometry,
on subjective health complaints (BL), on global indices and the somatiza-
tion subscale of the SCL-90-R, on state anxiety and on symptoms and
triggers of the MCS Questionnaire.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings revealed that there are no changes in
olfactory performance, central chemosensory and cognitive olfactory
information processing in patients with IEI. They support previous find-
ings of changes in the psychological profile and elevated clinical psy-
chopathological parameters in IEI in these patients.
Funding: Universities of Munich and Düsseldorf