The excretory/secretory (ES) antigen(s) of Ascaris lumbricoides was fractionated into i o fractions by gel chromatography on a Suparose 12 column in FPLC. Of these, the third fraction (A1 111), showing binding activity with both IgE and IgG antibodies of A. lumbricoides infected patients' sera, was further resolved into z fractions (A1 Illa and A1 IIIb) on passage through a Mono Q column. A1 IIIb was found to be the most potent antigen due to its high binding affinity with IgE and IgG antibodies o f Ascaris infected patients as evidenced by ELISA inhibition. Although a two to five-fold increase of serum IgE level was ohserved in all helminthic parasite infected patients studied compared to control subjects, Al IIIb specific IgE was detected in sera of all Ascaris infected and only 40%) o f hookworm infected patients. When Al IIIb was tested by ELISA with sera of control subjects, Ascaris, hookworm, Strongyloides and Trichuris infected patients, strong binding was observed with the IgE and also IgG of all the Ascaris infected patients; however, it crossreacted with IgG in 50% of hookworm, 28.6% of Trichuris trichura and 22.2% of Strongyloides infected patients' sera; but with IgE only in 40% of hookworm infected patients' sera. Further study showed specific detection of IgG, in all the serum samples o f 6 s Ascaris infected patients when Al IIlb antigen was allowed to react with different subclasses of IgG by ELISA, giving a sensitivity of 100%. Reacrivities of A1 Illb with IgG, and IgG3 were only 47.6 and r r . 8 % respectively and there was no reactivity with lgCL subclass. No IgG, reactivity against A1 IIIb was observed in the sera of hookworm, Trichuris or Strongyloides infected patients and was similar to that observed with control subjects showing the 100% specificity of the test system. This study may therefore be regarded as a novel technique for serodiagnosis of ascariasis by measuring Ascaris specific IgG,.

The effectiveness of Cocos nucifera pollen extract immunotherapy (CPE-IT) was studied in 96 patients allergic to C. nucifera pollen. A placebo-controlled study was performed at random for a period of 6–12 months. The clinical status of the patients measured by the symptom-medication scores demonstrated that C. nucifera pollen-allergic patients had significant (p < 0.005) clinical improvement after CPE-IT in comparison to placebo treatment. Serological study resulted a significant reduction (p < 0.001) of specific IgE and significant elevation (p < 0.01) of specific IgG in post-therapeutic patients’ sera which were correlated significantly (r = 0.45, p < 0.001); the changes of the above immunoglobulin levels in the placebo-treated patients were nonsignificant. However, there was no correlation between symptom-medication scores and changes in specific serum IgE or IgG levels.

Two allergenically active components present in the Azadirachta indica whole pollen extract have been isolated by sequential ammonium sulfate precipitation (0-90%), DEAE-Sephadex A-50 ion-exchange chromatography followed by gel filtration through Sephadex G-200. The allergenicity of fractionated materials has been tested by skin prick test and ELISA inhibition which reveal that AIaI and AIaIVb are the major allergens. Immunoblot confirms the IgE-binding activity of the proteins. Although both fractions are found to be homogeneous by SDS-PAGE, isoelectric focusing produces more than one isoelectric point in AIaI (pI = 3.15, 3.3 and 3.5) and AIaIVb (pI = 6.0 and 6.2). Amino acid analyses of the two allergens, the effect of pH on them and cross-reactivity between them have been discussed.

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