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Immediate and late cutaneous reactions were induced in healthy and atopic subjects by anti-IgE challenge and a skin-window technique was used in order to verify if the pattern of cells observed at 24 hr was similar in both groups. The study was first performed under basal conditions, and in a second double-blind cross-over step, it was performed again during treatment with cetirizine 10 mg b.i.d. and terfenadine 60 mg b.i.d. Anti-IgE challenge was followed by a significant eosinophil accumulation in atopic subjects only. Cetirizine significantly inhibited this phenomenon while terfenadine showed a mild nonsignificant inhibitory effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the effect of a skin challenge carried out with either anti-immunoglobulin E or anti-immunoglobulin A in both healthy and atopic subjects. Leucocyte migration; Late phase cutaneous reactions; Mean percentages of eosinophils, neutrophils and monocytes; Existence of a dermal edema induced by complement activation and resistant to H1 blockade.

In the article, four house dust allergen preparations of different degree of purification were examined in various institutes by means of physicochemical analysis, IgE binding, C-assay and cutaneous tests. The philosophy of this approach was that, if a chosen technique has any validity at all in standardization, potency differences among various preparations should reveal themselves in an equal manner, independent of the investigator. House dust extracts were prepared and purified according to a standard schedule and subfractions were coded as published.

The article focuses on the analysis and standardization of allergen extracts intended for therapeutic use. Over the past decade, many papers and international meetings have been devoted to establishing methods and requirements for analysis and standardization of allergen extracts. In fact, manufacturers and control authorities are in demand to produce procedures enabling precise and viable quantitation of allergenic activity as well as analysis of extracts. Such an approach would allow physicians to prescribe uniformly labeled extracts of known quality and guarantee therapeutic procedures.

The effect of a potent antihistamine, cetirizine, was studied on allergic patients and normal subjects by means of an in-vivo 'skin window" technique. All subjects showed significant inhibition of skin-test responses to grass pollen, compound 48/80, histamine and methacholine, after administration of a single dose (10 mg) of cetirizine. Compared to placebo, cetirizine significantly decreased the eosinophils attraction at skin sites challenged with grass pollen and compound 48/80. In allergic patients no change in eosinophil migration pattern was noted with histamine and methacholine skin-tested sites. In normal subjects, compound 48/80 and histamine did not induce eosinophil accumulation and cetirizine did not modify cellular patterns as compared to placebo. These results suggest that cetirizine acts on eosinophil migration by inhibiting the release of mast cell mediators or inhibiting the eosinophilotactic mediators themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]