Skin-prick test preparations of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus for prediction of a positive response to provocation testing.

Skin-prick testing (SPT) with allergen is widely used in the investigation of respiratory disease, yet its relationship to the results of provocation testing of the nose or bronchus remains obscure. We have studied this relationship by determining the concentration of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus extract and the associated weal size which resulted in the lowest 'false positive' (FP) and highest 'true positive' (TP) rates when compared to the results of bronchial and nasal provocation testing. Subjects studied included those with both positive and negative bronchial or nasal provocation tests.

Development of the skin prick test for allergen assay.

The allergen skin prick test has been optimised for allergen assay for both D. pteronyssinus and grass pollen extracts. The use of an iterative algorithm to select the linear portion of the transformed dose response curve gave an assay that was stable to changes both in the composition of the panels of atopic subjects and in the time intervals between challenge and response measurement.

Clinical and immunologic evaluation of tyrosine-adsorbed Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus extract: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

We evaluated the clinical efficacy and immunologic changes associated with the administration of tyrosine-adsorbed Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dpt) extract. The study was carried out in a double-blind, placebo-controlled fashion in 18 patients with Dpt-induced asthma during a trial period of at least 12 mo. Patients initially received six increasing doses once a week; the top dose of 400 Noon units was repeated at monthly intervals.

A radioimmunoassay for chemically modified grass pollen allergen.

Because of the physicochemical properties of tyrosine adsorbed chemically modified grass pollen allergens neither the human skin test in atopic volunteers nor the inhibition of the radioallergosorbent test are suitable assay procedures. Radioimmunoassays involving a labelled IgG fraction of rabbit antisera to the modified materials can be developed. The dilution inherent in the solubilisation procedure for the tyrosine does not, in most cases, take the antigen concentration below the level of sensitivity of the assay.