The potency and antigen E content of commercially prepared ragweed extracts

Baer, Hans H.; Godfrey, Henry P.; Maloney, Clifford J.; Norman, Philip S.; Lichtenstein, Lawrence M.

doi:10.1016/0021-8707(70)90043-2

Cited by 118 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Aqueous whole ragweed extract (WRE) administered to the patients was obtained from commercial sources. We were aware of reported discrepancies between the biological activity and the protein nitrogen content of such extracts (18). Purified ragweed pollen antigen E used in the in vitro studies was kindly supplied by Dr. T. P. King of The Rockefeller University, and by Dr. F. C. McIntire of Abbott Laboratories.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunologic and cellular changes accompanying the therapy of pollen allergy

Levy¹,

Lichtenstein²,

Goldstein³

et al. 1971

J. Clin. Invest.

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A B S T R A C T We had found previously that children with ragweed hay fever were somewhat less symptomatic after preseasonal immunization with large doses of ragweed pollen extract than were placebo-treated children. To study further the immunologic changes which accompany immunotherapy, these children were treated again the following year. Each patient served as his own control.Serum blocking (IgG) antibody, measured by inhibition of antigen-induced leukocyte histamine release, was increased 20-to 40-fold after therapy. The anticipated postpollen season increase of serum reaginic (IgE) antibody, measured by passive sensitization of leukocytes from nonallergic donors, was suppressed. Instead, the mean titer was decreased after treatment. Total serum IgE levels, measured by radial radioimmunodiffusion assay, were higher than normal; were correlated with reaginic antibody titers; and also did not increase in the pollen season after treatment. The concentration of both IgE and reaginic antibody was lower in the older children, irrespective of treatment.Leukocyte response to ragweed antigen E and guinea pig anti-IgE antiserum was assessed by means of in vitro histamine release techniques. After treatment, the leukocytes of 21 patients were less sensitive (11 cases), or less reactive (10 cases), to antigen E. Response to anti-IgE antibody also was diminished after treatment. In four cases, neither anti-IgE nor antigen E induced histamine release, although both IgE protein and ragweed-specific IgE antibody were present in the patients' own sera. Clinical improvement was correlated best with decreased leukocyte sensitivity and leukocyte reactivity to ragweed antigen E. It appeared that decreased cell sensitivity was related to lower serum reaginic antibody levels. Decreased cell reactivity, in the presence of both IgE protein and IgE antibody in the serum, may indicate a change in cellular response mechanisms. These studies suggest that clinical improvement following specific immunotherapy must be the result of complex changes in the immunologic and cellular components of allergic disease. INTRODUCTIONImmunotherapy has long been the major form of treatment for pollen allergy. In recent controlled studies, it has been shown to result in at least partial amelioration of the symptoms of hay fever in adults and children (1-4). Previous studies of the immunologic parameters of pollinosis have demonstrated that immunization with pollen allergen stimulates the production of blocking antibody (5, 6), reduces the serum titer of reaginic antibody (7-9), and also decreases the in vitro allergen-induced release of histamine from the patients' leukocytes (4, 10, 11).In recent studies, reaginic antibodies, which are responsible for the sensitivity of allergic individuals to specific allergens, have been identified as IgE immunoglobulins (12). Immunoglobulins of this class are present in the serum and on the histamine-containing cells of both allergic and nonallergic individuals. The mean concentration of IgE in serum from allergic ...

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunologic and cellular changes accompanying the therapy of pollen allergy

Levy¹,

Lichtenstein²,

Goldstein³

et al. 1971

J. Clin. Invest.

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This could in itself present adequate grounds for comparing injection treatment with extracts from one grass pollen and extracts from several pollens. At present the weight of evidence indicates that hyposensitization with one grass species (timothy) provides specific relief for patients allergic to several grass species (15,23). This indicates a high degree of cross reactivity between the most common and important grass pollens, whereas weeds and wind-pollinated trees show much less cross reactivity (16).…”

Section: Active Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Batch-to-batch variations as to total allergenic activity and allergen composition may have a tremendous impact on the results obtained. Even two lots of a pollen extract from the same company have shown a 1 00-fold difference in major allergen content (6,15).…”

Section: Active Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adequate Clinical Trials of Immunotherapy

K¹

1982

Allergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Skin test titrations (4, 61) preferably with a histamine reference (3, 4), immunodiffusion (10,37), histamine release assays (10,23,24,49), RAST inhibition ( 5 , 9, 23, 30), isoelectric focusing (68), crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) (50,70), lectin binding (16) and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (7) have all been used to standardize allergen extracts. Use of combinations of some of the above methods, in particular skin tests, histamine release, RAST inhibition and CIE, has proved to be the most satisfactory approach to allergen standardization using the existing technology.…”

Section: Methods Used To Standardize Allergen Extractsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standardization of Allergens

Baldo

1983

Allergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

AllergensAllergens are those antigens that induce an immediate hypersensitivity reaction in sensitive individuals following contact with the airways, gastrointestinal tract, skin or mucous membranes. Allergens are derived from diverse sources including pollens, mites, fungi, animal epithelia, insects, venoms, bacteria, foods and drugs (36, 55). The crude sensitizing material from most of these sources contains more than one allergen. For example, at least six allergens have been identified in ragweed (Ambrosia elatzor) pollen (33, 36, 53) and other important allergen sources such as house dust mites, ryegrass and timothy grass pollens and animal epithelia are also multiallergen systems ( 12, 5 1, 54,551.Most allergens are proteins or glycoproteins although pure polysaccharides have been shown to cause immediate reactions in man (14, 35). Major inhalant and food allergens are generally acidic proteins with isoelectric points in the range 4-6 and a MW range of 5,000-70,000 daltons (36).What makes an antigen an allergen is not known (2). It remains unclear why individual allergens vary in potency from one patient to the next and why some antigens appear to demonstrate no allergenic properties at all. Examination of the physicochemical properties of the allergens so far purified has not clarified these questions. We should not be surprised at this, however, since amino acid sequence data is available for only a few purified allergens, namely codfish allergen M (22), ragweed antigen Ra5 (58), phospholipase and melittin from bee venom (32, 63) and P-lactoglobulin, serum albumin and caseins from cow's milk (18, 21). With the exception of codfish allergen M and ragweed antigen E, nothing is known of combinations of amino acids (or perhaps sugars or lipids) that make up various allergenic determinants. With drugs that cause a type 1 immediate hypersensitivity reaction, identification of allergenic determinants should be simpler than with proteins since structural analogues can usually be obtained for examination. Although reports of IgE antibodies that react with drugs are rare (60), significant progress has been made in identifying allergenic determinants on penicillins (6) and muscle relaxants. In the latter case, structure-activity studies designed to explore the molecular basis of specific IgE binding by the drugs, established that quaternary ammonium and substituted ammonium ions were

show abstract

The potency and antigen E content of commercially prepared ragweed extracts

Cited by 118 publications

References 9 publications

Immunologic and cellular changes accompanying the therapy of pollen allergy

Immunologic and cellular changes accompanying the therapy of pollen allergy

Adequate Clinical Trials of Immunotherapy

Standardization of Allergens

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About