Vincent J. Fontana

Observations on the specificity of the skin test: The incidence of positive skin tests in allergic and nonallergic children

Abstract A series of allergic children skin tested with 28 common antigens was found to give a markedly higher incidence of positive reactions than a comparable group of nonallergic children. Reasons are given for questioning the significance of the skin reaction as an indicator of the specific antigen responsible for allergic symptoms. It appears likely that in the case of house dust, at least, the kin test has little practical significance. It seems to the writers that, if the skin test is to retain its place of eminence in the diagnosis of specific allergies, a firmer body of support in the form of rigorously controlled studies than is now available is required.

The treatment of infectiousasthma in children with gamma globulin

In a double blind controlled study 41 children with infectious asthma received 0.15 ml.per pound of body weight of pooled gamma globulin at 2 weekly intervals for a total of 8 injections. Twenty-nine children in a concurrent control group received 8 intramuscular injections of a placebo, human serum albumin, identical in appearance to gamma globulin. No reduction in the incidence of asthmatic attacks was observed in the treated as compared to the control group. No evidence was obtained that pooled gamma globulin prepared from the adult blood donors supplied antibodies effective in preventing upper respiratory infections in children. None of the children developed antibodies to components of pooled gamma globulin.

The effect of tranquilizers on the immediate skin wheal reaction: A preliminary report

T HE biochemical reactions associated with the immediate skin reaction are not fully understood although liberation of free histamine has been implicated as the most important substance involved in these phen0mena.l Suppression of the immediate skin test has been observed while the known reactor has been under hypnosis.* Antihistamines,“? 4, 6 aminophylline,51 6 and the sympathicomimetic drugs 5, 6 such as epinephrine, ephedrine, and isoprot,erenol in therapeutic doses have been shown to suppress the immediate skin reaction to various allergens. ACTH and cortisone, in therapeutic doses, do not significantly alter this reaction.7, * This preliminary study was designed to observe the effects of the more commonly used tranquilizers-chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride,# meprobamate, i and hydroxyzine

The effect of cortisone treatment on the in vitro release of histamine from serum and blood of sensitized rabbits

-on the diagnostic intradermal testing procedure, with ragweed employed as the test antigen.

Studies on experimental nephrosis produced by isosensitization in rats

Abstract 1.1. When the blood of sensitized rabbits treated with large doses of cortisone was exposed to antigen, histamine was released in vitro in amounts comparable to that released under similar conditions from the blood of sensitized rabbits not treated with cortisone. 2.2. From the blood of rabbits, normal except for treatment with cortisone, histamine was released in the presence of rabbit antiserum and antigen to the same degree as from the blood of normal rabbits not treated with cortisone.

VASCULAR RESPONSES TO SMOKING TOBACCO COMPARED WITH RESPONSES TO SKIN TESTING OF TOBACCO EXTRACTS

Summary 1. The effects of a histamine liberator, compound 48/80, and an antihistamine, bromdylamine maleate, and methyl prednisolone on the kidney disease produced in rats by iso-immunization were studied. These drugs did not appear to influence the course of the disease. 2. After a series of intraperitoneal injectionsof homologous kidney emulsified in Freunds adjuvants, proteinuria was observed in approximately 50 per cent of all the rats. The incidence of kidney disease was essentially the same in the animals treated with a histamine liberator, an antihistamine, and methyl prednisolone, as in the untreated controls which has received only the kidney emulsified in Freunds adjuvants. 3. The susceptibility of the rats to isosensitizationvaried greatly: proteinuria developed promptly in some animals after 5 to 6 antigen injections, in others it was observed only many weeks after the injections had been discontinued. In some, despite additional antigen injections and a prolonged observation period, proteinuria failed to develop. 4. Once the disease process was establishedby isosensitization, it was irreversible. No remissions were observed. 5. The underlying mechanism of the productionof kidney disease in rats by isosensitization does not appear to depend on the release of histamine.

Effectiveness of Hyposensitization Therapy in Ragweed Hay-Fever in Children

Excerpt INTRODUCTION There has been considerable interest for many years in vasomotor responses to nicotine and to the smoking (or chewing) of tobacco. There is almost complete agreement that smoki...