Allergens in Hymenoptera venoms. IV. Comparison of venom and venom sac extracts.

Honeybee venom sac extract is compared with pure venom. All five known allergens of venom are present in venom sac extract. Enzyme analyses indicate that the sac extracts contain 11% to 16% venom. At least 10 additional components, several of which are proteins, are present in venom sac extract. Radioallergosorbent test (RAST) studies of yellow jacket venom and venom sac extract yielded a correlation of r = 0.94, with only some weakly reactive sera positive to only one preparation. A few sera were substantially more reactive with venom sac extract. Venom sac extracts appear to be suitable for in vitro diagnostic use, but the extraneous proteins and peptides may make them less suitable than pure venoms for use in immunotherapy.