The Chemistry of Atopic Allergens

Abstract

This is the first comprehensive review of the chemistry of atopic allergens in the English language. The author has provided a concise, sufficiently detailed, interesting, readable, and useful summary of the enormous literature on the nature of atopic allergens. Of especial interest to this reviewer were the chapters that present recent studies, using modern chemical and physical techniques, on the characterization of allergens from pollens, vegetable dusts and fibers, seeds, epithelial tissues, molds, house dust, various foods, and a variety of miscellaneous substances. Standardization and methods of assay, classification of allergens on the basis of their physicochemical properties, immunochemical cross-reactivity of allergens, synthetic model compounds, functional characteristics of atopic allergens, and the nature of the allergenic determinant are explored and well documented. The author suggests that three separate and distinct functions for allergens be considered: (1) immunologic allergenreagin reactions in the classical sense, (2) intensification reaction by inhibiting specific enzymes,