This part of the website is intended for U.S. healthcare professionals only. The following abstract was presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in San Diego in March, 2000. Analysis of Allergenic Extracts. GA Plunkett, LD Baldwin, RE Baker, LM Featherstone.
Most allergenic extracts sold in the USA are non-standardized.
The method was validated by assaying one lot of a non-standardized Russian thistle extract 90 times. Evaluation of over 700 lots representing 170 different allergen extract types showed that most produced patterns with a unique protein array. Multiple lots of the same extract gave patterns that were similar for most allergen types, even when different lots of source material were used. For some extract types, aqueous and glycerinated extraction fluid gave different gel protein patterns. This was sometimes due to missing protein bands.