Development and experimental evaluation of the bee venom allergoid
AbstractIntroduction. A high degree of hypersensitivity to honey bee venom, high rates of anaphylaxis when stung by a bee (in the Russian Federation up to 6.4 %), the absence of therapeutic drugs in a wide allergological practice that allow the only effective and reliable method of treatment and prevention – allergen-specific immunotherapy – for patients with insect allergy to bee venom, which allows to reduce or completely eliminate the risk of anaphylactic type reactions, including anaphylactic shock with a fatal outcome, indicate the urgency of the problem of creating medicinal products.
The aims of the study – development of technology for obtaining and experimental evaluation of the bee venom allergoid.
Material and methods. The raw bee venom was purified, preparative and analytical chromatography and electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel were performed. The gas chromatography technique was used for the analysis of impurities. A competitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was performed to determine specific circulating IgE antibodies in experimental animals and human.
Results. An allergoid was made from purified bee venom. Analysis of the binding of purified bee venom, allergen and allergoid in competition with biotinylated bee venom allergen in competitive reverse EIA showed that allergoid, as a result of formaldehyde treatment, lost majority binding sites for specific IgE antibodies to bee venom proteins. Evaluation of the immunogenicity of the allergoid using EIA, showed that in the sera of 104 immunized male mice 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after the start of immunization of animals, circulating specific IgG antibodies are determined and a gradual increase of its level is observed.
Conclusion. The developed allergoid has a high ability to induce the specific IgG antibodies, which indicates the possibility of its practical application for allergen-specific immunotherapy.
Keywords:bee venom; allergen; allergoid; melittin; allergen immunotherapy
For citation: Avoyan G.E., Kulaga O.S., Nechay K.O., Esaulova D.R., Andreev A.I., Andreev I.V., Setdikova N.Kh., Shvets M.S., Cherchenko N.G., Toptygin A.J., Sankov M.N., Mislavsky O.V., Kofiadi I.A, Gudima G.O., Martynov A.I., Smirnov V.V., Kudlay D.A., Khaitov M.R. Development and experimental evaluation of the bee venom allergoid. Immunologiya. 2023; 44 (3): 345–57. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33029/0206-4952-2023-44-3-345-357
Funding. The study was supported by State Contract No. 14.N08.11.0206 dated 11/27/17, within the framework of the Federal Target Program «Development of the pharmaceutical and medical industry of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020 and beyond».
Conflict of interests. Authors declare no conflict of interests.
Authors’ contribution. Authors contributed equally to the writing of the article.
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