title: Ragweed allergy: correlation between skin reactivity and in vitro complement activation.
abstract: Recently we have reported on several observations which indicate that allergen-induced complement activation contributes to the development of the symptoms of ragweed allergy. In the present paper a new finding that supports this assumption is summarized. In 48 ragweed-allergic patients individual skin reactivity to ragweed allergen extract (RWA) was assessed using dilution skin prick testing. Sera of these patients were incubated with 20, 100, and 400 U/ml RWA and generation of two complement activation products, alternative pathway C3-convertase (C3bBbP) and terminal pathway activation complex (C5b-9) was measured by ELISA methods. A strong positive correlation (Spearman correlation coefficient r = 0.495, P = 0.0004, and r = 0.454, P = 0.0012, respectively) was found between individual skin reactivity to RWA and C3bBbP generation induced by 20 and 100 A allergological units/ml (U/ml) RWA. This finding further supports the role of complement activation products in the aggravation of the basic IgE-mediated immunopathology of ragweed allergy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Semmelweis Medical University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dervaderics
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hidvégi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Füst
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Varga
mesh_terms: D003167:Complement Activation; D051561:Complement C3 Convertase, Alternative Pathway; D003179:Complement C3b / Q000276:immunology; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology; D006109:Poaceae / Q000276:immunology; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology*; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D003179:Complement C3b; D051561:Complement C3 Convertase, Alternative Pathway