Abstract
Although nasal secretion has been suspected by numerous observers to be an important factor in the mechanism of respiratory allergies, its mode of action is as yet unknown. The present study attempts to determine whether nasal secretion contains reagins in ragweed sensitive patients.
Experimental Procedure. Four normal subjects and 10 ragweed sensitive patients with marked skin reactivity and demonstrable circulating reagins were selected for the experiments, 2 months after the end of the ragweed season.
Nasal secretion was obtained by insertion into each nostril of cotton plugs saturated with 10% sodium chloride solution; satisfactory secretory response was usually obtained without appreciable irritation within 10 minutes. The material obtained was transferred immediately into 2 micro-Seitz filters each of 2.0 ml capacity, and pressed through the filters by centrifuging for 40 minutes at moderate speed. The filtrates were clear, slightly viscous and represented approximately one-fifth of the original volumes.
The cell free liquid thus prepared was used for passive transfer studies. 0.1 ml was injected into each of 4 sites (left arm) of normal individuals who gave negative skin tests to ragweed and alder 15 minutes before the experiment. Injection of the filtrate was painless and was usually followed by a triple response (Lewis) which subsided within 30 minutes—one patient developed an erythema at the site of injection which persisted for 3 days leaving a faint pigmentation.
Twenty-four hours later the sites were reinjected with 0.02 ml of ragweed extract (0.01 mg N/ml), alder extract (0.01 mg N/ml) and diluent respectively; at the same time, another test for ragweed sensitivity was made on unprepared skin.
Results. Nasal secretion of 7 (out of 10) ragweed sensitive patients contained ragweed reagins. Alder extract and diluent were negative in all cases; the reagins demonstrated were specific for ragweed. Nasal secretion obtained from normal persons gave negative results. The behavior of reagins other than to ragweed in this particular medium is under investigation. It is felt that these observations might be of significance for a better understanding of the clinical course of pollinosis.
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