Clinical Allergy

The pollen of Parthenium hysterophorus, an alien weed growing wild in India was found to be a potential source of allergic rhinitis. A clinical survey showed that 34% of the patients suffering from rhinitis and 12% suffering from bronchial asthma gave positive skin-prick test reactions to Parthenium pollen antigen extracts. Parthenium-specific IgE was detected in the sera of sixteen out of twenty-four patients suffering from seasonal rhinitis. There was 66% correlation between skin test and RAST.

Pollens of closely related species often share common antigens and allergens although this is not always the case. Four species of Oleaceae pollens commonly found in the Mediterranean area were investigated for cross-reactivity: olive (Olea europaea), ash (Fraxinus exselsior), privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and Phillyrea angustifolia, a common bush. Twenty individual sera of patients allergic to Oleaceae were investigated for specific IgE antibodies against the four species of Oleaceae pollens. The results indicated a high degree of correlation between RAST titres of Oleaceae pollens but three gave a particular emphasis on one species only...

This study found a prevalence of asthma of 2.5% in adults and 0.2% in children in Goroka, the major town and administrative centre of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. The disease features are similar to those found in previous studies in Papua New Guinea: late age of onset and virtual absence of childhood cases; strong association with allergy to house dust mite and high mite-specific IgE levels; and considerable impairment of resting lung function. However, the prevalence is much lower than that recently found in the nearby rural South Fore linguistic group of the Okapa District...

We have measured airways reactivity (methacholine PC20) and blood eosinophils in eleven asthmatics with allergen-induced late-phase reactions. Before challenge there was a significant (P less than 0.05) inverse correlation between blood eosinophils and the methacholine PC20. After allergen inhalation eosinophil counts were significantly (P less than 0.01) elevated at 24 hr. These increases in blood eosinophil counts were not observed in patients who developed single early responses. The magnitude of the changes in eosinophil counts (24 hr minus pre-challenge values) also correlated with the baseline methacholine PC20 (P less than 0...

A new indoor nasal allergen challenge system has been developed which allows subjects with hay fever to be exposed to pre-determined concentration of grass pollen grains in the immediate environment. Thirteen subjects were exposed during the winter months to an atmosphere containing approximately 1000 grains/m3 for 30 min. No changes in nasal airway patency or symptoms of nasal congestion were recorded. It was necessary to increase the pollen concentration to approximately 9000 and 35 000 grains/m3 in two subjects and six subjects respectively, before a positive response was recorded...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The reactivity of eleven 'tobacco smoke sensitive' and eight 'non-sensitive' individuals to tobacco leaf allergens was tested by Crossed Radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE). All nineteen study subjects had IgE antibodies to tobacco leaf antigens as measured by Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST) and seventeen of the nineteen individuals were atopic. Of the thirty-seven tobacco leaf precipitins detected by Cross Immunoelectrophoresis (CIE), three were identified as allergens by CRIE. All nineteen subjects reacted to at least one of the three allergens detected...

Serum and rectal total and specific IgE were measured in eleven children with atopic dermatitis and eight with atopic dermatitis and associated wheezing. Specific IgE to food and inhalant allergens in rectal washings were found in fourteen patients. Of the seventy-six allergens which gave positive results, twenty were positive in both serum and intestine, thirty in serum alone and twenty-six in intestines alone. Specific intestinal IgE were confirmed by food challenge in three out of four patients whose skin-prick test and serum RAST were both negative...

Following insect sting anaphylaxis, twenty-five patients of over 500 evaluated, did not have detectable serum venom-specific IgE. Twenty-two were evaluated within 1 year of the reaction, fifteen within 6 months. Anaphylaxis occurred in six patients after their first sting exposure. The clinical features of the sting reaction were typical of the reaction occurring in insect-allergic patients with serum venom-specific IgE. Eleven of the twenty-five patients had negative venom skin tests. These observations suggest that a non-IgE mechanism may be responsible for a minority of insect sting reactions...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

A total of 601 sera from groups of workers exposed to heavily and moderately contaminated humidifiers respectively were examined by the double diffusion test for precipitating antibodies to humidifier extracts. Clinical information was obtained using a standardized questionnaire. Skin-prick tests to control, to three common inhalant antigens and to an extract from the humidifier were performed in 103 subjects exposed to a heavily contaminated humidifier. In this environment a strong inverse relationship between current smoking and precipitins was detected (P less than 0...

The authors studied twenty patients with celery allergy and concomitant hypersensitivity to certain pollens (mugwort, birch). The specific symptoms induced by eating celery were attacks of urticaria and angio oedema (seventeen out of twenty) respiratory complaints (eight out of twenty), systemic anaphylaxis with vascular collapse (three out of twenty). A strong association between clinical reactions to celery and mugwort sensitization, and to a lesser degree between celery allergy and birch pollen sensitization was established...

Azobisformamide is a low molecular weight agent used in the plastic industry as a foaming product. Two subjects with a history of work-related asthma in association with exposure to azobisformamide underwent specific inhalation tests. One subject developed an isolated late asthmatic response, whereas in the other a dual reaction was observed.

The bioavailability and absorption pattern of theophylline from a sustained theophylline sprinkle product (Somophyllin) were investigated in ten healthy adult volunteers both in fasting conditions and after a standardized solid meal. Theophylline given intravenously was used as a reference. The only effect of the meal was a statistically significant reduction in the rate of absorption of theophylline during the first 2 hr after medication. After that time food had no effect upon the absorption characteristics of the preparation and the bioavailability was complete after both fasted and fed intake of the product (96...

Guinea pig-sensitive patients with asthma and rhinitis were skin test positive to extracts of several materials derived from guinea pigs. A radioallergosorbent test (RAST) was developed to measure serum IgE specific for the dander, urine, saliva and also for dust from the air-vent filters of a room housing guinea pigs. A strong correlation was found between positive skin test reactions, and raised serum IgE to these extracts. Furthermore, the relative allergenic potency of extracts was similar when determined by skin-prick testing and by inhibition of the RAST to guinea pig dust...

House dust mite sensitivity is very common in patients with bronchial asthma, yet dust mite avoidance frequently receives little attention in clinical management. It is likely that any reduction in allergen levels associated with routine cleaning is insufficient to allow clinical improvement. In the present study the acaricide pirimiphos methyl is shown to reduce the levels of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, antigen P1 in homes. Following a single application the level of antigen P1 in dust from carpets was reduced by up to 73% and by more than 50% in soft furnishings...

A worker with occupational exposure to nickel developed asthma a few months after starting work. Skin prick tests to nickel sulphate were negative. Inhalation challenge with nickel sulphate, at a concentration of 10 mg/ml for 30 min induced a late asthmatic reaction, starting 3 hr after the end of exposure leading to severe nocturnal attack. Tests for antibodies with nickel reactivity were negative.

Skin tests and RAST determinations with breed-specific dog allergen extracts and a cat allergen preparation were made on forty-four atopic patients divided into three groups. Group 1 were twenty dog-owning atopic patients without clinical signs of dog sensitivity, Group 2 contained twenty-one patients with a clinical history that suggested allergy to dogs, and Group 3 contained ten atopic patients who were sensitive to cats. In neither the in vivo nor the in vitro tests was there any evidence for dog breed specificity, nor was dog albumin found to be a major allergen in the population studied, though a few individuals showed strong RAST activity to albumin...

Interrelationships between skin and humoral tests for immediate hypersensitivity to wheat and indicators of respiratory disease were examined in 176 male bakers. Skin tests were assessed by measuring the diameter of the weal resulting from prick innoculation of allergen extract and circulating allergen-specific IgE by radioallergosorbent test (RAST). Fifteen per cent of subjects showed positive skin-prick test responses to wheat extracts. These subjects demonstrated an increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms and of measurable bronchial responsiveness to methacholine...

In fourteen patients with food allergy, intragastral provocation under endoscopical control (IPEC) was performed. In all patients positive immediate-type reactions of the gastric mucosa were observed consisting of oedema, erythema and petechial bleeding. Microscopically, mast cell degranulation was observed and measured by mast cell counts using the o-phthaldialdehyde technique. Concomitantly, tissue histamine content in gastric mucosa decreased significantly after allergen provocation, while there was no change in normal volunteers...