Abstract
Penicillins are effective for treating bacterial infections in many clinical situations, but in certain cases, they cause allergic reactions varying from mild skin rashes to anaphylactic shock and death. These symptoms often resemble those seen in immediate or delayed hypersensitivity reactions, and may be associated with drug specific IgE and/or drug specific T cells. Currently, the laboratory tests include isotope based serum IgE antibody measurement as well as skin test. However, radioisotope allergen specific tests (RAST) are not convenient, and the standardized skin-testing reagents and protocol do not usually exist. In fact, the skin test is often avoided because of the high risks. Therefore, in the current study, we have developed a non-isotope based penicillin-reactive IgE screening platform with high sensitivity and specificity. Using this screening platform to detect IgE of a mouse model sensitized with penicillin reveals that high levels of penicillin specific IgE were found in the penicillin sensitized animals but not in OVA sensitized or untreated control animals. Penicillin specific T cells produce relatively higher levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in the penicillin sensitized group, indicating a Th2-cytokine dominated response of T-cell dependent IgE production against penicillin. This observation and the development of such convenient platform to measure penicillin specific IgE may benefit further study of penicillin allergy.
Published Version
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