Art v 3 is a major mugwort allergen and in some patients with IgE to both Art v 3 and Pru p 3, Art v 3 behaves as the primary sensitizing agent.

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A solid-phase, monoclonal antibody-based ELISA was set up to quantitate group 5 allergens in pollen extracts of wild and cultivated Pooideae grasses. The method was able to evaluate group 5 concentration in mass units with a sensitivity in the ng/ml range and a practical working range of 1-100 ng/ml. The group 5 ELISA was compared with rocket immunoelectrophoresis for determination of allergen levels in several Phleum pratense extracts, and a very good quantitative correlation was found (r = 0.98; P < 0.0001). A highly significant correlation (r > 0.8) was also obtained in comparing allergenic potency determined by RAST inhibition to group 5 content in several wild and cultivated grass species. The results proved the usefulness of the method in the standardization of Pooideae pollen extracts employed in diagnosis and treatment.

We examined the effect of DNase treatment of sera with antihistone activity. In non-systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) sera, antihistone levels remained unmodified, but a significant decrease was observed in 7 of 11 SLE sera with anti-DNA antibodies. This was accompanied in some by an increase in anti-DNA levels. We therefore considered that DNA-anti-DNA complexes were being detected, as part of the antihistone activity in SLE patients, by binding of the complexes through their DNA to the histones used in the assay. This was confirmed by demonstrating that DNA-anti-DNA complexes formed in vitro, and by studies performed with monoclonal antibodies with affinity to double-stranded DNA and/or histones.In recent years, substantial experimental and clinical data have been accumulated concerning the presence of antihistone antibodies in autoimmune diseases, both in humans (1) and in animal models (2). These autoantibodies, first described in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (3), are particularly common in patients with drug-induced lupus (4).From the

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