Monitoring of antibodies in patients on immunotherapy with insect venoms by immunoblotting.

A rapid nitrocellulose immunoblotting procedure based upon electrophoretic transfer has been used to monitor patient specific IgE and IgG antibodies before and after specific Hymenoptera insect venom therapy. The patients followed a conventional schedule for immunotherapy with Pharmalgen bee and yellow jacket venoms. The allergenic profiles of the patients before and after treatment were qualitatively similar in many patients, but some showed decreased IgE binding after treatment. On the other hand, there was a significant increase in specific IgG antibodies directed towards phospholipase and hyaluronidase in the bee-venom-treated patients and towards antigen 5, phospholipase and hyaluronidase in the patients treated with yellow jacket venom. The immunoblotting is very useful for a rapid evaluation of patient specific antibody patterns without the prior isolation of allergens.