Purification and Properties of House Dust Allergen

The Complexity of House Dust, with Special Reference to the Presence of Human Dandruff Allergen

“…Thus, the presence of polysaccharides and polyuronides is evident from V annier and Campbell's re port (11); Lietze and R eed (3) found proteins précipitable be low pH 6.0; Boatner and Efron (12) indicated proteinaceous material, while our own studies indicated the glyco-(or muco-) protein nature of the fraction having the highest relative activity in skin tests (5,13). These different groups of compounds are roughly separated in our purification procedure, schematically shown in fig.…”

“…The techniques em ployed for skin testing and for interpretation of test reactions have already been given (5,9).…”

“…Purification followed the guiding rule for any material of biological activity, viz: that specific activity per unit weight should increase, and led to the isolation of a frac tion with a very high skin-reactive potency (5). Since than, this purification procedure has repeatedly given comparable allergen fractions of reproducible skin-reactivity.…”

Studies on the Allergen in Ipecacuanha

“…Although the protein nature is much more pronounced than was found to be the case with the purified house dust allergen (6,15), the specific allergen in ipecac, like the latter, is a complex glycoprotein with firm (covalent) bonds between the constituent carbohydrate and polypeptide moieties.…”

“…For testing purposes the freezedried fractions were dissolved in a physiological buffer solution pH 7.0, containing 0.5 % phenol (6). As a rule a stock solution was prepared containing 1 mg. of the substance per ml., which was sterilized by glass filtration.…”