Effects of gamma radiation on the allergenic and antigenic properties of milk proteins.

This study was carried out to evaluate the application of food irradiation technology as a method for reducing milk allergies. Bovine alpha-casein (ACA) and beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) were used as milk proteins. Using milk-hypersensitive patients' immunoglobulin E (IgE) and rabbit IgGs individually produced to ACA and BLG, the changes of allergenicity and antigenicity of irradiated proteins were observed by competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Allergenicity and antigenicity of the irradiated proteins were changed with different slopes of the inhibition curves. The disappearance of the band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and increase of the turbidity showed that solubility of the proteins decreased by radiation, and this decrease might be caused by agglomeration of the proteins. These results indicated that epitopes on milk allergens were structurally altered by gamma irradiation.

Autoantibodies and immunoglobulins among atomic bomb survivors.

The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to atomic bomb radiation affects immune responsiveness, such as the occurrence of autoantibodies and levels of immunoglobulins. Rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody, antithyroglobulin antibody, anti-thyroid-microsomal antibody and immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgM, IgA and IgE) were measured among 2,061 individuals exposed to atomic bomb radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki whose estimated doses ranged from 0 to 5.6 Gy. The prevalence and titers of rheumatoid factor were found to be increased in the individuals exposed to higher radiation doses. The IgA level in females and the IgM level in both sexes increased as radiation dose increased, although the effects of radiation exposure were not large. No effect of radiation was found on the prevalence of antinuclear antibody, antithyroglobulin antibody and anti-thyroid-microsomal antibody or on the levels of IgG and IgE.

Alterations of IgE immunoglobulin concentration in the serum after megavoltage radiotherapy with large-field technique in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

In patients with Hodgkin's disease, the serum IgE concentrations were determined with the PRIST radioimmunoassay before commencing and after ending systemic megavoltage radiotherapy. 57 patients showed mainly raised serum IgE concentrations before radiotherapy. After the end of radiotherapy, 44 patients were investigated, and a highly significant fall of the IgE concentration was shown in the serum following the radiotherapy. The decrease of IgE concentration was most pronounced in the patients in whom large areas of irradiation were necessary or who displayed B symptoms. In a proportion of the patients, the IgE concentration in the serum could be measured once more six and twelve months after the end of radiotherapy. Although the IgE concentrations rose again after radiotherapy, the initial values before the beginning of radiotherapy had not yet been reached again even twelve months after treatment in 21 patients investigated. A long-lasting immunosuppressant effect of radiotherapy on the serum IgE concentration could thus be demonstrated which corresponds to the effect on the serum IgM concentration described earlier.

[The immunological mechanism of the modulation of IgE antibody formation during microwave irradiation of the thymus]. / Nekotorye aspekty immunologicheskogo mekhanizma moduliatsii IgE-antiteloobrazovaniia pri mikrovolnovom obluchenii timusa.

Contrary to bone marrow exposure, microwave therapy of the thymus (80 mW/cm2) in induction sensitization results in inhibition of the production of IgE-antibodies to staphylococcus Cowan. The process, studied in experiment, rested on microwave induction of the function of IgE-antibody formation of T suppressors.