In vitro reactivity of penicilloyl and penicillanyl albumin and polylysineconjugates with IgE-antibody

Penicilloylated (BPO) and penicillanylated (BPA) poly-L-lysine (PLL) and hu man serum albumin (HSA) were prepared and characterized by penamaldate assa y and proton NMR spectroscopy. The conjugates were coupled to nitrocellulos e (NC) discs and cyanogen bromide activated paper discs and their in vitro reactivities with serum IgE antibodies were examined. Results showed that o n paper discs, 55.3 and 83% of the sera reacted with PLL conjugates of BPO and BPA, respectively, while 41.5 and 58.1% reacted with HSA conjugates. On NC discs, HSA conjugates gave better results, 75.6 and 70.7%, respectively for BPO and BPA, compared with 38.6 and 50%, respectively for the PLL conj ugates. Overall, the BPA-PLL conjugate on paper discs proved to be the most reactive preparation. Addition of the BPO-PLL paper disc preparation detec ted more positive sera (85.1%) and we believe that the combined use of thes e two specificities offers the best test for the detection of penicillin-re active IgE antibodies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.