The nature of the pollen atopen.

Abstract

It has been assumed that the exciting agent of atopic coryza and asthma in pollen is a protein.

We were at first inclined to the belief that this agent was a non-dialyzable protein, on account of the observation that, although about two-thirds of the nitrogen of the pollen extract could be eliminated by dialysis, the atopic activity of the extract remained unaltered.

This belief was proved to be incorrect by the further observation that, after digestion of the protein with trypsin, and thorough dialysis, the pollen extract was found to be just as active as before this treatment, although no trace of its original nitrogen content remained in it.

This result seems to place the pollen atopen in the general category of the enzymes, without, however, in any way demonstrating that the substance possesses the function of an enzyme.