Immunological Properties of Dialysis Retentates From Penicillin

The efficacy of pure and experimentally contaminated benzylpenicillin to induce formation particularly of IgE antibodies in CBA mice was analyzed. A daily administration schedule of 60 mg penicillin/kg body weight for 10-day periods with 25 days rest between the periods was employed. When using pure benzylpenicillin, as verified by a radioimmunoassay, no IgE or other antibody formation with penicilloyl specificity could be shown as analyzed with passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in rats and double-antibody radioimmunoassay, respectively. If the animals were exposed to Bordetella pertussis bacteria simultaneously with the penicillin treatment, or treated with hydrolyzed benzylpenicillin, an antibody response mainly of the IgM class could be shown, probably due to a polyclonal activation by the bacteria. No IgE antibodies were ever found after treatment with pure penicillin. In contrast, if the penicillin was contaminated with penicilloyl₂₆-bovine γ-globulin at amounts of 3, 15 or 75 μg/g penicillin, both IgE antibodies and antibodies of the IgM and IgG classes could be demonstrated. Less contaminant needed more treatment periods to trigger the immune system. No adjuvant effect of the B. pertussis bacteria could be noted, but instead the bacteria sometimes suppressed the antibody formation, probably due to the daily exposure of the animals to the bacteria. It was concluded that the use of highly purified penicillin preparations would very likely decrease the incidence of penicillin allergy, particularly reactivity mediated by IgE antibodies.

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antigens in Penicillin Allergy

Kristofferson¹,

Ahlstedt²,

Hall³

1979

“…This contrasts with what has recently been reported from other labo- ratories [7,12]. This discrepancy may be explained by the methods employed.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…Gel fil tration followed by RIA has a very high sensitivity and specificity. Thus, less than 1 fig of penicilloylated protein/g penicillin can be demonstrated [5], In our laboratory we found the dialysis retentate method used by other investigators [7] to be unreliable. Thus, the recovery of 1-10 /ug protein contaminant/g penicillin measured as m I-labelled proteins, varied between 25 and 80°/o [unpubl.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antigens in Penicillin Allergy

Ahlstedt¹,

Kristofferson²,

Pettersson³

1979

Using a radioimmunoassay, it was shown that commercially available ampicillin preparations often contain penicilloylated high molecular weight impurities. These possess immunological activities and stimulate penicilloyl-specific antibody formation in mice treated according to a therapeutic schedule. Using purified and experimentally contaminated preparations it was also found that exposure of the animals to Escherichia coli and Bordetella pertussis bacteria could increase the antibody formation to small amounts of impurities. In addition, penicilloylated antigen could be recorded in serum from treated animals. The antigen formed by penicilloylation in vivo, however, was very weak and did not induce much antibody formation when injected together with Freund’s adjuvant in mice or rabbits.

“…Recent studies have demonstrated that a quantity of proteinaceous impurities in preparations decreased with the improvement of the manufactural process and that the impurities did not seem to be related to the immunogenicity of the preparations [13,18]. On the other hand, impurities born from homopolymeric mechanisms are claimed to play an important role not only in sensitization of patients but also in elicitation of allergy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antigenicity of Beta-Lactam Antibiotic Preparations: Production of IgE Antibodies to Beta-Lactam Antibiotic and Their Cross-Reaction Within the Antibiotic Group

Iwata

Katsuta

Tanii

et al. 1982

BALB/C mice were immunized with a conjugate of benzylpenicillin or ampicillin with Ascaris suum extract. The mice developed IgE antibodies to penicillin, which were found to react with commercially available penicillin preparations in the PCA system. Elimination of polymerized penicillin by Sephadex chromatography from tested preparations could not diminish their activities to elicit PCA. High pressure liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation of PcG preparation yielded fractions unable to elicit PCA. On the other hand, all fractions from ABPC retained the activity even after the HPLC purification. A comparative estimation of cross-reactivity of IgE and IgE antipenicillin antibodies showed that IgE antibodies cross-reacted with a variety of beta-lactam antibiotics in a high degree.