Allergen Injection Research Articles

Ulerythema ophryogenes and atopy.

In 15 patients from five different families with ulerythema ophryogenes strong evidence for an atopic diathesis were found. Most patients had a personal history of atopic dermatitis, hay fever, or asthma and many of their family were atopic. They had strongly positive reactions on intracutaneous injection of inhalation allergens, except two who had marked blood and tissue eosinophilia. From the genealogic table of one family it is evident that ulerythema ophryogenes, like keratosis pilaris and atopy, depends on an irregular dominant gene. The genetic defect responsible for ulerythema ophryogenes might be identical or closely linked with the defect responsible for atopy.

A Comedy of Errors

ABSTRACT To the Editor:— A back-check on Fontana, Holt, and Mainland shows an unusual error. Their Fig 8 was taken from Lowell and Franklin's Fig 7 (J Allergy34:177, 1963). But they reversed everything, mislabelling the A and A' groups as placebos, when they were the treated groups, and the B and B' groups as those treated with allergen injections, whereas they had been Lowell and Franklin's control groups. However, they came out with a valid, albeit garbled, interpretation when they said that six of 33 patients fared better than the controls. What they should have said was that six of the controls fared worse than the treated. Further, the A,A′ group shows 35 patients, and the B,B′ group 38. Lowell and Franklin's letter to the editor shows they had seen the Fontana et al manuscript but did not complain of this mistake. Curiously, there is no absolute

Effectiveness of Hyposensitization Therapy in Ragweed Hay-Fever in Children

A five-year study has been done on children sensitive to ragweed in which a comparison was made between specific hyposensitization injections and placebo injections. Even though the allergen injections may have had some beneficial effect on some children, the amount of benefit was indistinguishable from differences likely to occur in pure randomization experiments. No justification was found for promising any greater benefit to children treated with allergens than they would obtain from placebo injections.

IMMUNOLOGICAL COMPETENCE OF THE NEWBORN INFANT

IMMUNOLOGISTS have long been fascinated with the apparent immunologic incompetence of the mammalian neonate. At the turn of the century comparisons of various antibody titers in the blood of the mother and her offspring led Ehrlich and others to the firm conviction that the newborn mammal was dependent on a dowry of maternal antibodies for protection against the microbial insults of the extrauterine environment. Yet subsequent comparisons of human maternal and cord serum for their antibody content against a wide variety of antigens yielded a seemingly senseless patchwork of results. It became evident that certain antibodies such as those against viruses, Gram positive pathogens, bacterial toxins, and so-called blocking antibodies induced by the injection of allergens were efficiently transferred to the fetus, whereas atopic reagins and antibodies to the Gram negative enteric commensals and pathogens, the blood group substances, and the Wassermann and heterophile antigens were in the main barred from the fetal circulation.

Response of nonallergic persons to injected castor bean allergen, CB-1A

The immunologic responses of development of blocking antibodies, reagins, skin sensitivity and/or clinical symptoms of hypersensitivity of 161 nonallergic men to 1.0 mg. subcutaneous injections of the castor bean allergen, CB-1A, have been studied. These data were obtained in previously described studies in which the men served as recipients for passive transfer tests. One hundred and thirty-two recipients (82 per cent), who had one series of tests consisting of from one to 5 consecutive weekly injections of 1.0 mg. of CB-1A, had no apparent response. Four (2.5 per cent) had slight clinical response in the first series, two of which followed the first and two the third injection of CB-1A. Eight recipients (5 per cent) had two series of injections of CB-1A with intervals of 10 to 95 weeks between series with no response. Fifteen recipients (9.3 per cent) had responses attributed to CB-1A in the second or third series of weekly injections of CB-1A. Twelve of these developed blocking antibodies as shown by loss of their ability to give passive transfer reactions but developed no clinically evident hypersensitivity. Two complained of soreness at the site of the injection. One of this group (J. B.) had hives and generalized itching after the fourth injection of CB-1A. Two of the injections of J. B. were given in one series and two in a second series, 89 weeks after the first. J. B. developed skin sensitivity to CB-1A and reagins in his blood serum. Of the 23 who had two or more series of tests, 15, or 65 per cent, developed blocking antibodies or some clinical response. None who developed blocking antibodies had clinical symptoms and those who developed clinical symptoms did not develop blocking antibodies. None of the clinical reactions were respiratory as is the case with naturally occurring castor bean allergy, a difference which may be due to different routes of entry of the allergen to shock tissues; one, naturally by inhalation of dust and the other by injection.

Immunologic studies of ragweed-sensitive patients treated by a single repository antigen injection

T HE treatment of allergic rhinitis and asthma due to pollens by the injection of allergens emulsified in oil has been attempted in the past on several occasions. However, the results were not very encouraging.‘, 2 It is only recently33 4, 5 that practical and useful methods of treatment, based on the emulsion principle, have been devised. Although this mode of treatment is now widely used, several pertinent questions remain unanswered, such as the utilization of objective methods which might demonstrate the efficiency or superiority of such treatment over the conventional meth0d.O This paper is primarily concerned with immunologic studies ( SSAt titers, blocking antibody titers, hemagglutinin titers) on the sera of 35 ragweed-sensitive patients who were all treated by a single repository ragweed injection in June, 1960, at the Royal Victoria Hospital Allergy Clinic.

The incidence of subsequent ragweed pollinosis in symptom-free persons having positive reactions to ragweed pollen extract

1. 1. Sixty-eight allergic patients were followed for from two to twenty-four years. They had not had ragweed pollinosis initially, but had had positive skin test reactions to ragweed pollen. The purpose of the study was to discover what becomes of such patients with regard to the development of ragweed pollinosis. 2. 2. Of the total number of patients, 53 per cent developed ragweed pollinosis, and 47 per cent did not. 3. 3. Of the persons developing pollinosis, 88 per cent did so within ten years of the skin tests, and 64 per cent did so within five years of the skin tests. 4. 4. The corollary to this is that those who have not developed pollinosis ten years after skin tests are highly unlikely to do so thereafter. 5. 5. Of the thirty-two patients who did not develop pollinosis, approximately 25 per cent were observed for twenty-one to twenty-five years, 27 per cent for sixteen to twenty years, 24 per cent for eleven to fifteen years, 10 per cent for six to ten years, and 15 per cent for zero to five years. These figures are affected by the length of time the patients were followed, and must be interpreted accordingly. 6. 6. There was no evident relationship between sex or type of skin test (scratch or intradermal) and the development of ragweed pollinosis. 7. 7. Of the patients in this study who were 16 years of age or over at the time of skin testing 75 per cent did not develop ragweed pollinosis and 25 per cent did develop ragweed pollinosis. 8. 8. Of the patients in this study who were 16 years of age or under at the time of skin testing, 37 per cent did not develop ragweed pollinosis and 63 per cent did develop ragweed pollinosis. 9. 9. In view of the foregoing findings, the practice of giving injections of ragweed pollen as a prophylactic measure along with periodic injections of other allergens to patients who have a positive skin test but who do not have ragweed pollinosis appears justified, since there is no evidence to prove that such prophylactic measures are harmful.

Suppression of local allergic reactions with hydrocortisone

In the hyposensitization of patients with allergic contact dermatitis to Rhus plants (poison ivy), the incorporation of 25 mg. of hydrocortisone prevents or ameliorates the occasional adverse local reactions which follow intra-muscular injection of the poison ivy allergen.

Local organ hypersensitivity to autogenous antigens: I. Experimental production of a pneumonitis

1. 1. An allergic pneumonitis was obtained in the rabbit by using various autogenous materials as allergens. 2. 2. The autogenous allergens used were: (1) partly hydrolyzed autogenous serum; (2) saline extracts of autogenous skin and homologous liver; and (3) an excretory product, autogenous urine. A complementary study was doen with exogenous allergens. 3. 3. A local sensitization of the lung was achieved by a single intrapulmonary injection of the allergen under investigation. After a suitable time interval, the shock injection of the same allergen was given intravenously and an allergic pneumonitis developed in the sensitized lung. 4. 4. The pneumonitis was characterized by alveolar lesions (congestion, edema) and vascular lesions (endothelial reaction, endarterial, and periarterial edema, periarterial infiltration with eosinophilic cells and small and large mononuclears). 5. 5. The immunological mechanism involved, the factors granting antigenicity to the autogenous substance used in these experiments and the possible events capable of leading to the release of similar allergens in man are discussed. 6. 6. These experiments suggest that partial hydrolysis of autogenous proteins, tissue destruction and liberation of endocellular material, and reabsorption of an excretory product can, under certain conditions, give rise to autogenous allergens and provoke pathological changes in a previously sensitized tissue.

Migraine reproduced by injections of specific allergens: Leon Unger, M.D., Chicago, Ill. (Abstract)

Migraine reproduced by injections of specific allergens: Leon Unger, M.D., Chicago, Ill. (Abstract)

IMPORTANCE OF THE SENSITIZATION MECHANISM IN THE CLINICAL PHENOMENON OF ALLERGY

The theory of human allergy is based on analogy to anaphylaxis in guinea pigs, in which sensitization to a specific protein is succeeded by shock when the allergen is later reinjected. Serum disease is an inadvertent experiment which sometimes closely simulates experimental anaphylaxis, but in most clinical allergies the parallel is less complete. Most investigators of human allergy have been content to leave unexplained the mechanism of sensitization and have devoted themselves to the problem of averting the shock component. The clinician must admit that methods of prevention and treatment of allergic reactions in the hypersensitive patient are unsatisfactory. When a state of hypersensitiveness is present, shock (secondary) phenomena may readily be induced by inhalation, ingestion, injection or mere application of the specific allergen to the skin. Detection and elimination of specific allergens and the use of graduated dosage for the development of tolerance or antianaphylaxis (seldom convincingly attained) frequently

Histologic changes in allergic and nonallergic wheals

A histologic study was made of 31 specimens of human skin obtained from 27 individuals hypersensitive to ragweed pollen, dust, heat, cold or scratching and from 4 individuals not hypersensitive five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, thirty-five, forty-five, sixty-five minutes, three, six and twenty-two hours after the intracutaneous injection of allergen, histamine, exposure to heat, to cold or to scratching. It was noted that in allergic individuals the injection of allergen rapidly gave rise to an inflammation of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue and that the changes in the first ten minutes and after as early as three hours later were much like those of ordinary inflammation of considerable intensity. Fifteen minutes after injection, however, it was noted in the early inflammatory leucocytosis that 25 per cent of the wandering cells were eosinophilic and that twenty to thirty-five minutes after injection the changes of inflammation not only were pronounced but were most unusual in that the majority of the wandering cells were of eosinophilic type. In addition, the study has shown that whereas intracutaneous injection of histamine produces but a slight tissue reaction in nonallergic individuals, its effect thirty-five minutes, three, six and twenty-two hours after injection in allergic individuals is almost indistinguishable from that produced by allergen. These findings apparently give some support to the view of Lewis and others that in the allergic individual there is an increased tendency of stimulated or injured cells to release histamine or histamine-like substance which then causes the local reaction.

Linseed Meal Sensitization

Article1 December 1930Linseed Meal SensitizationGRAFTON TYLER BROWN, B.S., M.D., F.A.C.P.GRAFTON TYLER BROWN, B.S., M.D., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-4-6-601 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptAlthough occasional references to flaxseed or linseed sensitization are scattered through the vast literature on allergy, it seems to me that hypersensitiveness to this substance is deserving of further emphasis.REVIEW OF THE LITERATUREContact with ground flaxseed, in the preparation of flaxseed poultices, has been known to produce urticaria of the hands and arms, and also asthmatic attacks. Walker1 reported one case of angioneurotic edema caused by flaxseed.Cooke2referred to one patient with asthma and coryza from linseed, and testing this patient intradermally with linseed extract produced an immediate constitutional reaction manifested by asthma, coryza, urticaria, and also...References1 WALKER IC: Causation of Eczema, Urticaria and Angioneurotic Edema—By Proteins Other Than Those Derived From Food, J. A. M. A. 70:897 (March 30) 1918. CrossrefGoogle Scholar2 COOKE RA: Studies in Specific Hypersensitiveness: III. On Constitutional Reactions: The Dangers of the Diagnostic Cutaneous Test and Therapeutic Injection of Allergens, J. Immunol. 7:119 (March) 1922. Google Scholar3 MEYER GP: Asthma, M. Clin, N. Am. 7:1015, 1924. Google Scholar4 PINESSMILLER GPH: Cutaneous Manifestations of Protein Allergy, Arch. Dermat. & Syph. 14:145 (Aug.) 1926. CrossrefGoogle Scholar5 NICHOLSON D: Cutaneous Reactions to Flax and Linen in Five Cases of Bronchial Asthma and Two of Hay-Fever, with Poor Results from Specific Treatment, Canad. M. A. J. 17:552 (May) 1927. MedlineGoogle Scholar6 BROWN GT: History Taking in Bronchial Asthma, J. A. M. A. 88:1693 (May 28) 1927. CrossrefGoogle Scholar7 ROWE AH: Allergy in the Etiology of Disease, J. Lab. & Clin. Med. 13:31 (Oct.) 1927. Google Scholar8 FEINBERG SM: Household Objects as Causes of Hypersensitiveness, J. Lab. & Clin. Med. 13:220 (Dec.) 1927. Google Scholar9 FIGLEYELROD KDRH: Endemic Asthma Due to Castor Bean Dust, J. A. M. A. 90:79 (Jan. 14) 1928. CrossrefGoogle Scholar10 THOMAS WS: Asthma, New York, Paul B. Hoeber, 1928, p. 124. Google Scholar11 BALYEAT RM: Perennial Hay Fever: Diagnosis and Treatment, Based on the Study of Four Hundred and Forty-One Cases, South. M. J. 22:492 (May) 1929. CrossrefGoogle Scholar12 BLACK WC: Flax Hypersensitiveness, J. A. M. A. 94:1064 (April 5) 1930. CrossrefGoogle Scholar13 COCAMILFORD AFEL: Studies in Specific Hypersensitiveness: XVII. The Preparation of Fluid Extracts and Solutions for Use in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Atopic Conditions, J. Immunol. 10:555 (March) 1925. Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Washington, D. C.*Presented at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Asthma and Allied Conditions, Atlantic City, N. J., May 3, 1930. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byAsthma produced by susceptibility to unusual allergensA report of six cases of flaxseed sensitization with review of the literature 1 December 1930Volume 4, Issue 6Page: 601-612KeywordsAllergy and immunologyAsthmaEdemaPatientsUrticaria ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 December 1930 PDF downloadLoading ...