Studies on radioallergosorbent test (RAST)

The radioallergosorbent test (RAST) is one of the solid phase radioimmunoassays. The authors first studied Ceska's method, a RAST with a paper disc instead of a solid phase. The patients with nasal allergic disorders were selected. The following items were used as antigens: Acarus, House Dust, Sugi, American Sugi timber, Alternaria, Candida, Penicillium and Protargol. The RAST was very reproducible with an average error of 5% according to our results. Treatments to decrease sensitivity did not influence RAST values within a nine-month period. The purity of the 125I-labeled anti-serum was considered to be most important in the success of the RAST. The RAST was useful for all of these tests for allergy to Acarus, House Dust, Sugi pollen, Ragweed pollen, Typha angustate pollen, Alnus japonica pollen, Alternaria, Candida and Penicillium. Applications of American Sugi timber and Protargol to the allergic tests have not been studied. (Tsukamoto, Y.)