AN ASSESSMENT OF ANTIGENIC POTENTIAL OF BETA-LACTAM ANTIBIOTICS, LOW-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT DRUGS, USING GUINEA-PIG MODELS

Allergic reactions are among the common adverse effects in humans. How ever, it is widely assumed that there are practically no reliable anim al models for preclinical tests of low-molecular weight drugs that are available to predict such reactions. This study was designed to compa re the detecting ability of test methods for antigenic potential of ei ght beta-lactam antibiotics with which allergic outcome has been repor ted in humans. The tests included active systemic anaphylaxis (ASA), d elayed type skin reaction (DSR), maximization test (GPMT) in guinea pi gs sensitized with antibiotics emulsified with Freund's complete adjuv ant, passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbe nt assay (ELISA) as serological tests. PCA and ELISA though using prot ein-conjugates as detecting antigens, especially ELISA, showed positiv e reactions with relatively high incidence. On the other hand, GPMT wa s the most sensitive method to detect antigenic potential of antibioti cs despite the use of antibiotics alone for sensitizing and challengin g phases. It is suggested that GPMT can be considered the most reliabl e method in preclinical testing. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd .