ANTIBODIES OF RAGWEED - SENSITIVE PATIENTS Bx BURTON

The sedimentation properties of the skin-sensitizing antibodies of human atopic allergy have been studied by a number of investigators (1-6). Most work involving sucrose density centrifugation (2, 6) and ordinary preparative sedimentation (3, 4) has indicated that the skin-sensitizing antibodies are to be found in the 7S group of proteins rather than associated with the 19S macroglobulins. In many cases it was impossible to determine whether there were skin-sensitizing antibodies of intermediate sedimentation coefficient. Experiments (7, 5) carried out using the moving partition cell technique of Yphantis and Waugh have suggested that skin-sensitizing antibodies may be found in the 19S or an intermediate (10 to 18S) group.