Drug-specific immune responses induced by immunization with drugs in guinea pigs and mice.

In order to develop a system for evaluating the allergenicity of drugs in clinical use, we tested drugs for the ability to induce drug-specific immune responses in guinea pigs and mice. Test drugs were benzylpenicillin, procainamide, hydralazine, isoniazid, alpha-methyldopa, D-penicillamine, captopril, sulfamethoxazole and 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), which are known to induce allergic responses in man including hypersensitivity reactions...