Standardization of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus extracts and tyrosine adsorbates

Human skin test, inhibition of RAST and the radioimmunosorbent technique of Ceska have been shown to be useful assays for the standardization of D. pteronyssinus aqueous extracts. The development of these assay systems for the standardization of D. pteronyssinus tyrosine adsorbed formulations is described. Tyrosine solubilisation procedures are detailed together with the influence of these procedures on the three assays. Good correlation has been shown between the human skin test and the radioimmunosorbent technique. The inhibition of RAST appears to be more sensitive than the other techniques to mild conformational changes in the allergen, induced in this work by acid pH. This may limit its value for the standardization of D. pteronyssinus tyrosine adsorbates but it may prove useful in monitoring manufacturing processes.