Abstract: The inventive concept relates to the inactivation of allergens using inhibitors for hydrolytic enzymes, and preferably proteases. Embraced within the overall inventive concept is the use of hydrolytic enzyme inhibitors for manufacture of medicaments for the prophylactic treatment of allergic conditions, and formulations for their use. Also, there is included a method for the manufacture of air treatment devices with the enzyme inhibitor bound to the surface of the support material such as an air filter. There is also a formulation containing the enzyme inhibitors for inactivating allergenic residues on fabrics or carpets.

Abstract: A competitor for human Immunoglobulin E (IgE) comprises a polypeptide which has a core sequence of seventy-six amino acids which is shown, together with the corresponding DNA sequence coding therefor, in FIG. 2. This amino acid sequence, numbered 1 to 76, corresponds to amino acids 301 to 376 of the epsilon heavy cain of IgE. The polypeptide may also include additional short sequences at the beginning and/or end of the core sequence which are physiologically harmless and do not contribute to the ability of the core sequence to bind compete with native IgE for the high-affinity receptor sites on human cells. The polypeptide is indicated for the treatment of Type I hypersensitivity reactions such as hay fever. The polypeptide may be produced synthetically or by expression from Escherichia coli containing a plasmid having a DNA segment coding for the polypeptide.