Clinical and immunologic evaluation of a purified fraction of ragweed pollen (delta)

Immunological Analyses of Birch Pollen Antigens, with Special Reference to the Allergenic Components

“…In addition, these ther mostable antigens are responsible for the major allergenic activity of birch pollen extracts and are more readily extracted from birch pollen than the other antigens. The allergenic thermostable antigens of birch pollen have counterparts, particular ly in the pollen of alder, but also to some extent in that of hazel and aspen, as well as in hazelnut.Conventional allergen extracts widely used in medicine for the diag nosis and treatment of atopic diseases are very complex mixtures, con taining several antigenic components [1-8, 24-27, 37-39, 42, 45], Since pollen allergy is the 'classical' atopic state, the majority of antigen ana lyses of crude allergen solutions have been performed on pollen extracts [3-8, 18-26, 30, 35,45], Extracts of ragweed and grass pollen contain 13-15 antigens, capable of inducing formation of precipitating antibodies in the rabbit [7,8]. Some of these antigens have been related to allergen activity [6-8, 20, 24-26, 41], but many of them seem to be of little significance as causal factors in human atopic disease.…”

Clinical Studies of Two New Ragweed Preparations: ‘Purified’ Delta and Allpyral

“…In addition, delta was quite potent in its ability to elicit direct skin test reactions in allergic patients and proved to be a good coating antigen in tanned cell hemagglutination studies. Subsequently, in a doubleblind study, a small group of patients responded favorably to delta therapy and lids response was clinically and immunologically quite comparable to that of patients receiving whole ragweed extract (4).…”

“…Hemagglutination Titers In order to compare the antigenicity of these two materials, tanned cell hemag glutination antibody titers were determined prior to and following treatment. Pool C, another 'purified fraction' of ragweed pollen was used as the coating antigen (10). Pre and post-treatment sera from 29 patients receiving delta and 12 patients receiving all pyral were examined.…”

“…This fraction was initially prepared with the primary purpose of isolating, purifying and identifying the active allergen in whole ragweed extract, and thus also providing a better method of standardization of allergen extracts. We have previously reported detailed immunological studies and a preliminary clinical study of delta (3,4). This fraction retains most if not all of the allergenicity and antigenicity of whole ragweed extract.…”

The Adjuvant Role of Alginate on Antibody Response to Ragweed Extracts in the Rabbit

“…1. A rbesman (15) has found that titers of anti-Pool C rabbit sera and anti-ragweed rabbit sera, when tested with homologous and heterologous antigens, were higher with the Pool C coating. Whole ragweed extracts (e. g., DMLL) apparently contained inhibitors which competed with the hemagglutinating antigens for sites on the tanned red cells.…”