Clinical response to gold as a circulating contact allergen.

In order to study the flare-up of contact allergy, 35 patients with a contact allergy to gold were given an intramuscular injection of 10 mg gold sodium thiomalate, i.e. the anti-rheumatic drug Myocrisin. Clinical reactions comprised an eczematous flare-up of previously positive patch tests to gold and of a previous dermatitis, which occurred in 80% and 26%, respectively; a toxicoderma-like rash in 46%; and a transient fever in 60%. With the antigen rapidly reaching the bloodstream, the technique provides an experimental human model for studying flare-up mechanisms in contact allergy.