Allergens in Hymenoptera venom XX. Isolation of four allergens from imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) venom

Fire ant venom allergy

“…A proprietary electric stimulation method has been developed for the collection of commercialgrade venom (40). This method is capable of producing gram quantities of venom proteins of a purity comparable to that found in hand-collected venom (40).…”

“…Fire ants sting repeatedly, many times rotating in a circular pattern, while maintaining a grip with their mandibles. Each sting consists of only a very small volume, usually nanoliters containing 10-100 ng of protein (40). The name "fire ant" comes from the pain that appears soon after the stinging, but this pain is usually less intense than that from bee or wasp stings.…”

“…One end ofthe tube was sealed, and the tube was then centrifuged to separate the phases. This method was improved for the collection of reference specimens of venom by Hannan et al (33) and Hoflfman et al (40) by the use of vacuum and a larger collecting tube, as illustrated in Fig. 4.…”

“…However, since fire ants are slow stingers and since only a single ant can be processed at one time, this method is extremely laborious, and only relatively small amounts can be collected. The separation of reference venom collected by this method has been illustrated (40). A proprietary electric stimulation method has been developed for the collection of commercialgrade venom (40).…”

“…The aqueous phase of S. invicta venom contains four major allergenic protein components (40). Sol i 2 comprises about half to two-thirds ofthe venom protein.…”