Abstract: | Using the scratch test with self-made chrysanthemum pollen extract of 32,700 PNU/ml, a positive response was elicited in 60 of 316 patients (18.9%) with allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma, and was positive in 42.5% adults with allergic rhinitis. On the other hand a 4.7% positive response was obtained in 84 non-allergic subjects. With the intracutaneous test, a threshold value was determined in 7 cases with 0.327 PNU/ml; 12 with 3.27 PNU/ml; 8 with 32.7 PNU/ml; and 8 with 327 PNU/ml, as opposed to one positive in 84 controls with 327 PNU/ml (1.3%). P-K tests were successfully done in 15 out of 16 cases. Furthermore, the results of in vitro neutralization tests using chrysanthemum and other compositae pollen extracts indicated the absence of sharing antigenic determinants between them. Provocation tests were conducted in 4 cases of allergic rhinitis and 3 cases of bronchial asthma with positive response in all the patients. From these results it was found that chrysanthemim pollinosis indeed exists in Japan, particularly in the mountainous districts. |