ANALYSIS OF CROSS-REACTIVITY BETWEEN SUNFLOWER POLLEN AND OTHER POLLENS OF THE COMPOSITAE FAMILY

The sera of 20 patients with Compositae pollen allergy were investigat ed for the presence of IgE antibodies reacting against sunflower polle n by means of RAST and immmunoblotting studies. Thirteen IgE-binding b ands were detected with molecular weights ranging from 14.4 to 94 kd. Two of these bands, with molecular weights of 24 and 25 kd, contained major allergens that reacted strongly with 100% (24 kd) and 95% (25 kd ) of the sera, respectively. Cross-reactivity between sunflower and ot her Compositae pollens (mugwort, marguerite, dandelion, golden rod, an d short ragweed) was revealed by RAST and immunoblotting inhibition ex periments. Mugwort pollen exhibited the greatest degree of allergenic homology (cross-reactivity) with sunflower pollen, whereas at the othe r end of the spectrum, short ragweed showed less cross-reactive epitop es.