Hoffman D R
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, East Carolina University, School of Medicine, Greenville, NC 27858-4354, USA.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1997 Nov;100(5):679-83. doi: 10.1016/s0091-6749(97)70173-8.
There are four species of fire ants found in the United States in addition to the most common, Solenopsis invicta. Reactions have been reported from stings of each of these species, but large numbers of insects and adequate amounts of venom for study are very difficult to obtain.
Venom was obtained, the purified allergens were isolated, and the complete amino acid sequences were determined for two of the three allergens from S. richteri. Skin testing and RAST studies were performed on patients with reactions to native fire ant stings and analyzed in comparison with clinical history.
The structures of S. richteri allergens have a high degree of similarity to S. invicta allergens. The Sol 2 allergens are less related to each other than either the Sol 1 (phospholipase AB) or Sol 3 (antigen 5) allergens. Patients sensitized to native species of fire ants react primarily to the Sol 1 and Sol 3 allergens, whereas those originally sensitized to S. invicta also react significantly to the Sol 2 and Sol 4 allergens. Some patients are initially sensitized to S. invicta and have life-threatening reactions to stings of native species. The tropical fire ant, S. geminata, has become a serious problem in some areas of the Pacific and South Asia, especially Okinawa and Guam.
The venoms from all of the species of fire ants examined appear to be highly cross-reactive. S. invicta imported fire ant venom extracts are probably sufficient for diagnosis and may warrant a clinical trial for immunotherapy of allergic reactions to venoms of any of the other four species.
除了最常见的入侵红火蚁外，美国还发现了四种火蚁。已报道了这些种类的火蚁叮咬后的反应，但很难获得大量用于研究的昆虫和足够量的毒液。
获取毒液，分离纯化过敏原，并确定了里氏火蚁三种过敏原中两种的完整氨基酸序列。对天然火蚁叮咬有反应的患者进行皮肤试验和放射变应原吸附试验（RAST）研究，并与临床病史进行比较分析。
里氏火蚁过敏原的结构与入侵红火蚁过敏原高度相似。与Sol 1（磷脂酶AB）或Sol 3（抗原5）过敏原相比，Sol 2过敏原之间的相关性较低。对天然火蚁种类敏感的患者主要对Sol 1和Sol 3过敏原产生反应，而最初对入侵红火蚁敏感的患者也对Sol 2和Sol 4过敏原产生显著反应。一些患者最初对入侵红火蚁敏感，对本地火蚁种类的叮咬有危及生命的反应。热带火蚁，即热带火蚁，在太平洋和南亚的一些地区，尤其是冲绳和关岛，已成为一个严重问题。
所有检测的火蚁种类的毒液似乎都具有高度交叉反应性。进口的入侵红火蚁毒液提取物可能足以用于诊断，并且可能值得对其他四种火蚁毒液过敏反应的免疫治疗进行临床试验。
