[Use of isoelectric focusing for assessing the composition of pollen allergens]

The preparations of allergens and allergoids obtained from ragweed, timothy and wormwood pollen, as well as the preparations of allergens from birch and orchard grass pollen differing in the method of their production, have been studied with the use of analytical isoelectric focusing in a thin gel layer. The composition of the preparations of allergoids differs from that of the allergenic preparations from the pollen of the same plant species by the decreased content of protein components detected in this investigation. The main proteins contained in the preparations of allergoids are distributed in the zone of pH 3.5-4.5. Differences in the composition of different batches of the same allergens, manifested by variations in some protein bands or by their absence, have been noted. Protein components with the isoelectric point in the alkaline zone have been detected only in the preparations of ragweed pollen allergens.