STUDIES ON THE MECHANISM OF THE FORMATION OF THE PENICILLIN ANTIGEN

Abstract

Seven highly purified degradation products of penicillin G (PG) were examined with regard to their ability to cross-react allergically with PG. Guinea pig allergic contact dermatitis was employed as the test system. Three of these degradation products, D-benzylpenicillenic acid (BPE), D-penicillamine, and D-α-benzylpenicilloic acid were found to cross-react with PG and also to be capable of inducing delayed contact allergy in the guinea pig. BPE and PG cross-reacted with particularly intense reactions, and other immunologic experiments indicated that PG and BPE introduce identical allergic determinant groups into epidermal proteins.