IgG levels after treatment with antigen vials based on the scratch testing, intradermal testing, modified RAST testing.

ABSTRACT

In this study, there were three groups of patients--each group consisting of four patients. The first group had been skin tested by the scratch method, the second group was skin tested by the end point titration intradermal method, and the third group had been tested for inhalant allergy by the modified RAST technique. All of them had multiple treatment vials made, dependent on the type of testing they had, and the vials all included the ten inhalants that were tested for. All patients had been treated for a year with weekly immunotherapy injections. Specific IgG levels, blocking antibody levels to the ten inhalant allergens, were determined. The results were that the patients who had been scratch tested had the lowest levels of specific IgG blocking antibody--while both intradermal end point titration and modified RAST testing had much higher elevations of blocking IgG antibody, with the RAST having the highest. It is concluded that, since the treatment vials prepared after scratch testing of all the antigens are at the same concentration, there are many antigens that are not given in adequate amounts to cause a good IgG response whereas, by calibrating the concentrations of antigens in the intradermal titration and the modified RAST testing, all the antigens are being injected in sufficient quantities to get a good blocking antibody response.