A procedure for total protein determination with special application to allergenic extract standardization

A method for total protein determination of allergenic extracts has been developed and evaluated. Samples were hydrolyzed with 5 M NaOH followed by colorimetric determination with ninhydrin of the released amino acids using bovine serum albumin as the standard. The entire procedure was carried out in disposable plastic tubes. Substances (glycerol, phenol and mannitol) commonly present in allergenic extracts manufactured for human use did not affect the assay results. Analyses of four different pollen extracts by the method gave good agreement with amino acid analyses. Other methods of analysis (total N, protein N unit assay, Lowry) gave more variable results compared with amino acid analysis. Analysis of the total protein content of 53 different lots of allergenic extracts gave narrow ranges of values for each species. Standardized mite extracts analyzed for total protein by US FDA-licensed manufacturers using this assay showed a good correlation of biological activity with total protein.