Allergic responses and levels of extractable proteins in NR latex gloves and dry rubber products
1994
Yip, Esah | Turjanmaa, K. | Ng, K. P. | Mok, K. L.
With the awareness of Type 1 allergy, improvements of latex-dipped products, particularly the medical gloves, invariably involve the reduction or removal of their residual extractable protein fraction containing the allergens. + Although extensive studies are in progress to identify these allergens, it is still not clear how the allergic response so elicited in hypersensitive persons by these allergens is related to the quantity of the extractable protein level present in the + products. This paper examines this relationship with reference to latex gloves. Extractable protein content of a total of 39 different glove samples, determined by the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia modified Lowry microassay procedure, is shown to+ range from < 0.020 mg/g to > 1 mg/g. Their allergic responses in latex sensitive per sons (a total of 59) are evaluated by means of the skin-prick test. Results demonstrate that higher extractable protein contents are always associated with positive + allergic responses, while very low extractable protein levels tend to exhibit weak or no allergic reaction. Similar studies have also been carried out with 16 dry natural rubbers of various commercial grades and five rubber products including cut threads+ manufactured via processes quite different from those of latex-dipped articles. Findings reveal that they not only have extremely low extractable protein contents (< 0.020 mg/g-0.034 mg/g), but also show negligible or no allergic responses when + skin-prick tested on a total of 28 latex hypersensitive persons. It may therefore be concluded that dry natural rubber products are free from the protein allergy problem reported for some latex products.
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