IgE antibodies in nasal secretions of ragweed-allergic subjects

Abstract

Nasal washings from 50 ragweed-allergic and 10 normal individuals and parotid salivas from half of this group were studied for the presence of IgE antiragweed antibodies by means of radioimmunodiffusion (RID) and Prausnitz-Küstner (P-K) tests. Sixty per cent of the nasal washings from the group of allergic patients gave positive P-K reactions, but only 16 per cent were positive in the RID test. The nasal IgE antiragweed antibodies detected in RID showed reactions of identity with the IgE antibodies in the serum. The presence of nasal IgE antibodies as detected by RID did not seem to be related to the degree of chinical symptoms or immunotherapy but showed some correlation with P-K titers of the sera. The lower degree of sensitivity of RID, compared to that of the P-K test, accounted for the difference in the incidence of IgE antibodies in the nasal washings as detected by these two methods. Nasal washings from the control subjects and parotid salivas from both the allergic and normal individuals did not show reaginic antibody activity.