RMT Research Published in JACI

As part of the validation of our two Naturalistic Exposure Chambers™, we at RMT have been researching Fel d 1 and Fel d 4, the two allergens responsible for cat allergy symptoms: How do these allergens' levels vary among cats? Where exactly are these allergens found? Is there any correlation with age, gender or breed?

To answer these questions, we partnered with a local cat hospital and took samples of fur, saliva and urine from 26 male and female cats of varying ages and breeds. We found that allergen levels were not related to breed, gender or age, contradicting the common belief that certain cat breeds are "hypoallergenic". Fel d 1 levels were significantly higher than Fel d 4 in fur samples, while in saliva the opposite was true, indicating that fur is the main source of Fel d 1 and saliva is the main source of Fel d 4.

The full details and results from this study can be found in our Letter to the Editor recently published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI): Fel d 1 and Fel d 4 levels in cat fur, saliva, and urine