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We have developed a new technique for the direct local administration of test solutions to the nasal mucosa and for quantification of nasal secretory responses. This technique, a variation on several published reports of filter paper use, allows simple and rapid determination of drug effects and facilitates the analysis of ipsilateral and contralateral responses to local challenge of the nasal mucosa. We have used this technique to investigate the secretory responses of the nasal mucosa to methacholine and histamine and to determine the effects of atropine and ipratropium bromide (Atrovent nasal spray) on these secretory responses.

We have used the RAST-inhibition technique in homologous and heterologous inhibitions of the Aspergillus fumigatus, Alternaria tenius and Cladosporium herbarum RAST assays followed by the immunoblot technique to assess the degree of shared allergenic determinants in these extracts. In the Aspergillus RAST, there was little or no inhibition with Cladosporium and Alternaria , but considerable cross-reactivity was found between Alternaria and Cladosporium . Inhibition by Alternaria of the Cladosporium RAST was found in a dose-dependent fashion in on serum, whereas all four sera in the Alternaria RAST were inhibited by Cladosporium in this fashion. Logit transformation of the Alternaria RAST-inhibition curves produced common slopes with Alternaria and Cladosporium in three of the four sera, indicating their immunologic identity. The immunoblot technique confirmed the degree of cross-reactivity found by RAST inhibition among the molds. This evidence of common allergenic determinants in these fungi could help to explain the observation that mold-allergic patients often have skin test reactions to several fungi.

The health effects of both indoor and outdoor air pollutants are of increasing concern. The health effects of outdoor air pollutants traditionally have been assessed through measurements of lower respiratory tract changes. However, it has been shown that one outdoor air pollutant, sulfur dioxide, decreases nasal mucus flow and increases nasal airway resistance. Along with cigarette smoke, indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde, cadmium, and ammonium or sulfate ions have been shown to alter upper airway mucociliary function. Emissions from wood stoves are known to irritate the upper airways. Measurement of nasal airway resistance using posterior rhinomanometry allows quantification of nasal function. This technique recently has been used to demonstrate that adolescents with allergic asthma have increased work of breathing after inhalation of 0.5 ppm sulfur dioxide. Another study using posterior rhinomanometry showed that clerical workers had increased work of breathing after exposure to carbonless copy paper as compared with bond paper. This brief review of upper respiratory tract changes after pollutant exposure should serve as a reminder that a complete clinical history must include questions designed to ascertain the patient's exposure history to both outdoor and indoor air pollutants. These exposures can have a major impact on the health of the upper respiratory system.

Allergenic proteins were extracted from one silk batch that was imported to be used as filling material for bed mattresses and rugs. IgE and IgG antibodies to the extracted silk proteins were measured by RAST in sera of nine silk-sensitive persons as well as in sera of healthy control donors. Silk proteins were fractionated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into 12 polypeptides of molecular weights between 14 and 70 kilodaltons. By means of the immunoblot technique, IgE and IgG antibodies to the individual silk polypeptides could be detected. Sera of silk-sensitive persons contained high titers of IgE and low titers of IgG antibodies to the separated silk polypeptides. Sera of control donors contained low IgG antibody titers to a limited number of these polypeptides.

A method has been developed for the assay of allergens and may be summarized as follows: 1. Filter paper discs are activated with BrCN. 2. The allergens are coupled to the reactive groups on the paper disc carrier. 3. IgE immunoglobulin, present in the sera of allergic patients, then attaches itself to the allergen coupled to the paper discs. 4. 125 I-labeled anti-IgE antibodies thereafter interact with the IgE molecules attached via the allergens to the paper carrier. Examples of the assay with the use of dog, cat, horse, cow, and timothy allergens are presented. The allergen assay method can conveniently be used to compare the "potency" of different allergen extracts and to check the extraction procedure, storage, and further treatment of allergens.