title: Development of a sandwich ELISA to measure exposure to occupational cow hair allergens.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cow hair and dander are important inducers of occupational allergies in cattle-exposed farmers. To estimate allergen exposure in farming environments, a sensitive enzyme immunoassay was developed to measure cow hair allergens.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sandwich ELISA was developed using polyclonal rabbitantibodies against a mixture of hair extracts from different cattle breeds. To assess the specificity of the assay, extracts from other mammalian epithelia, mites, molds and grains were tested. To validate the new assay, cow hair allergens were measured in passive airborne dust samples from the stables and homes of farmers. Dust was collected with electrostatic dust fall collectors (EDCs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sandwich ELISA was found to be very sensitive (detection limit: 0.1 ng/ml) and highly reproducible, demonstrating intra- and interassay coefficients of variation of 4 and 10%, respectively. The assay showed no reactivity with mites, molds and grains, but some cross-reactivity with other mammalian epithelia, with the strongest reaction with goat. Using EDCs for dust sampling, high concentrations of bovine allergens were measured in cow stables (4,760-559,400 μg/m²). In addition, bovine allergens were detected in all areas of cattle farmer dwellings. A large variation was found between individual samples (0.3-900 μg/m²) and significantly higher values were discovered in changing rooms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ELISA developed for the detection of cow hair proteins is a useful tool for allergen quantification in occupational and home environments. Based on its low detection limit, this test is sensitive enough to detect allergens in passive airborne dust.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance (IPA), Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zahradnik
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bruckmaier
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flagge
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fleischer
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schierl
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sültz
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spickenheuer
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Noss
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brüning
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raulf-Heimsoth
mesh_terms: D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003612:Dairying; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens