Comparison of Alternaria tenuis extracts prepared from different raw materials.

Alternaria extracts, prepared from three different sources under the same conditions, were compared by several biochemical/immunochemical methods. Two raw materials (A,G) contained mostly mycelia. The third raw material (C) contained mycelia (35%) and spores (65%). Extracts A and G were different in total allergenic potency, antigen/allergen pattern, and in the Alt 1 content. Extract C was of similar total allergenic potency as extract A but showed a somewhat different antigen/allergen pattern and a different Alt 1 content. Although there were some compositional differences among the extracts, all extracts regardless of source materials (spores and mycelia) demonstrated strong RAST inhibition activity and parallelism of the inhibition curves.