Abstract
The contact allergenicity of lanolin was investigated by means of a modified technique of guinea pig testing which involved the use of the complete Freund's adjuvant and external application of the test compound in the induction stage. Only lanolin alcohol (BP) produced a marked positive reaction, but other lanolin derivatives, consisting mainly of wax esters, did not produce a positive allergic reaction at any challenge concentration. The allergens in lanolin alcohol, which dissolved in methanol or acetone, turned out to be multiplex components with wide range of polarity. Aliphatic alcohols and aliphatic diols, which had been reported to be possible allergens of lanolin, did not produce a positive reaction. Lanolin alcohol was fractionated with high perfornance liquid chromatography, and the fractionated materials which gave strong positive reactions were studied by 13^C-NMR and GC-MS. The results of chemical analysis suggest that the allergens in lanolin alcohol consist of a compounds with 2 or 3 hydroxy groups, double bond groups and a ketone group.
