Allergenic Components of Bald-Faced Hornet <i>(V. maculata)</i> Venom

Vol. 76, No. 1, 1985

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Original Paper

Allergenic Components of Bald-Faced Hornet (V. maculata) Venom
Susan Littler^b, John I. Wypych^a, Robert W. Noble^c, John Abeyounis^d, Robert.E. Reisman^a

^aAllergy Research Laboratory, Buffalo General Hospital, Department of Medicine, Allergy Division;
^bDepartment of Pathology;
^cDepartment of Biochemistry, and
^dDepartment of Microbiology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, N. Y., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Int Arch Allergy Immunol 1985;76:1-8 (DOI: 10.1159/000233652)

Abstract

Bald-faced hornet (V. maculata) venom collected by electrical stimulation was fractionated using molecular exclusion gel-filtration and ion-exchange chromatography. Four fractions were selected for indepth analysis. These were analyzed for phospholipase, hyaluronidase and protease enzyme activities, antigenicity as measured by reaction with anti-hornet venom rabbit serum, and allergenic activity, as determined by RAST reaction with sera from hornet-sensitive patients. The results of these studies suggest that the fractions containing phospholipase, hyaluronidase and protease possess allergenic activity. In addition, there appear to be other allergenic components in hornet venom. Allergic patients differ in their reactivity to the various allergenic components in hornet venom and may have IgE antibodies to one or more of these components.

Author Contacts

Correspondence to: Dr. Robert E. Reisman, 50 High Street, Buffalo, NY 14203 (USA)

Article Information

Received: February 27, 1984
Published online: August 04, 2009
Number of Print Pages : 8

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