title: Precipitating antibodies against pigeon bloom antigens as a specific and sensitive measure of pigeon exposure.
abstract: Precipitating antibodies against pigeon bloom antigen and pigeon serum were evaluated as a measure of pigeon exposure in 62 male pigeon breeders compared with 40 unexposed control subjects. We found a combination of highly antigenic bloom extract and a sensitive counter current immunoelectrophoresis suitable for clinical estimation of pigeon exposure. The sensitivity of the test was 86% in never-smokers and 73% in smokers at the 98% specificity level. Smoking significantly reduced the humoral immune response to both antigens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Diseases, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Siersted
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Hansen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000542:Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D001716:Bird Fancier's Lung / Q000276:immunology*; D010856:Columbidae / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D003378:Counterimmunoelectrophoresis; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011234:Precipitins / Q000276:immunology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012907:Smoking / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D011234:Precipitins