Bis-GMA and
epoxy resins are known to cause
allergic reactions in some patients. The purpose of this research was to investigate the sensitizing capacity, cross-reactivity and
antigenic determinants of
bisphenol A (BPA), a major constituent of
Bis-GMA and BPA type
epoxy resins. Anti-BPA
antibodies were prepared from mice injected with BPA-
ovalbumin conjugates (BPA-OVA), and the reactions of the structurally BPA-related compounds were compared with that of BPA using these
antibodies by the
enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and EIA inhibition test. The findings are as follows: 1) Injection of BPA failed to generate anti-BPA
antibodies. However, injection of BPA-OVA was effective in producing
antibodies strongly reacting with BPA. 2) Polyclonal anti-BPA
antibodies cross-reacted with
bisphenol B (BPB), p-isopropyl-
phenol (
IPP),
diethylstilbestrol (DES) and 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP). 3) Five kinds of monoclonal anti-BPA
antibodies were obtained. These
monoclonal antibodies reacted specifically with BPA and moderately cross-reacted with
IPP, DES and BPB, but not with DNP. The results suggest that BPA-OVA is capable of eliciting anti-BPA antibody production in mice and that the
antigenic determinant of BPA is the structure of one central
carbon atom, covalently bound with two phenyl groups and two methyl groups.