Search

Esparto is a gramineous plant that has multiple applications in today's industry. Several cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) caused by esparto inhalation have been reported, but only one case of asthma caused by Aspergillus fumigatus contaminating esparto has been communicated. We report a case of asthma induced by esparto inhalation in a 58-year-old man, who is a building industry worker, with subclinical sensitization to grass pollen. The relation between clinical symptoms and work activities was supported by peak expiratory flow (PEF) monitorization; PEF values decreased by 20% the days he handled esparto. Prick test with esparto was positive. Immunoblot analysis revealed several allergens in the esparto extract, some of them present in Lolium and A. fumigatus extracts. IgE immunoblot inhibition revealed a complete inhibition of lolium and A. fumigatus IgE reactive bands by esparto proteins. The patient then avoided the exposure to esparto at work and has remained asymptomatic for the last 2 years. In conclusion, this is a case of occupational asthma caused by esparto dust mediated by IgE antibodies. Proteins of A. fumigatus as well as proteins from this gramineous plant, which cross-reacted with esparto allergens, were responsible for the disease.

Background Despite the increasing use of currants in culinary recipes, currant allergy has rarely been reported. Objectives To study a case of currant allergy and to explore cross-reactivity between grass pollen and Rosaceae family fruit allergens. Methods Skin prick tests to pollen and skin prick-to-prick tests with currants and peach were performed. Specific IgE levels were determined using the CAP method. We prepared a protein extract of 0.1 mg/mL in phosphate-buffered saline using red currant in the presence of protease inhibitors. Immunoblot inhibition studies were performed to explore cross-reactivity between grass pollen and currant allergens. Results Skin prick test results were positive to Dactylis , arizonic, and olive pollens. Results of skin prick-to-prick tests with fresh red and black currants were negative and positive, respectively, to peach. The specific IgE level was 5.7 KU/L to red currant and 2.92 KU/L to peach (CAP). Western blot analysis with red currant extract revealed specific IgE protein bands of 37 and 26 kDa. Preincubation of sera with extracts from red currant and peach inhibited both IgE bands, and preincubation with Dactylis pollen inhibited the 37-kDa band only. Conclusions We report a case of allergy to grass pollen with an oral allergy syndrome involving several fruits from 2 different families of the Rosidae subclass confirmed by in vitro tests. Inhibition studies demonstrated cross-reactivity between different fruits (currant and raspberry) from the Rosidae subclass and were incomplete with grass pollen allergens.

The effect of high-pressure (HP) treatment on the hydrolysis of dairy whey proteins by trypsin, chymotrypsin and pepsin was analysed. Isostatic pressure (100–300 MPa for 15 min at 37 °C) was applied to the protein substrate prior to its enzymatic hydrolysis. Digestion was also conducted at atmospheric pressure (0.1 MPa) and under high pressure. The extent of hydrolysis was measured by the o-phthaldialdehyde method, the peptide profile was analysed by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and the residual immunochemical reactivity was assessed by an ELISA test using a pool of seven sera from children allergic to bovine milk, an individual serum also positive (positive control) and two sera from non-allergic children (negative controls). The high pressure increased the degree of hydrolysis by the three enzymes used. Chymotrypsin and trypsin showed the highest proteolysis at 100 and 200 MPa followed by pepsin at 300 MPa. The β-lactoglobulin was hydrolysed by trypsin and chymotrypsin at atmospheric and at high pressures, whereas the pepsin only hydrolysed this protein under high pressure. Pepsin and trypsin hydrolysed α-lactalbumin in all cases. In contrast, this protein was not digested by chymotrypsin, irrespective of the pressure applied. An important decrease of immunochemical reactivity was found for pepsin and trypsin hydrolysates obtained under high pressure. The pool of seven sera detected immunoreactivity in the products of chymotrypsin hydrolysis under high pressure, which was not detected when the serum of one patient was used. The results suggest that dairy whey hydrolysates obtained by pepsin and trypsin in combination with HP treatment could be used as a source of peptides in hypo-allergenic infant formulae., The “Comisión Interministerial De Ciencia y Tecnología” through the Project no AGL2000-1497 supported this work.

A 42-year-old woman reported immediate rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma, and contact urticaria while handling bird food. Skin-prick tests were positive to Lolium, Cynodon, Phragmites, Cupressus sempervirens, Cupressus arizonica, Chenopodium, sunflower pollen and seed, mugwort, chamomile, Chrysanthemum, Taraxacum, canary seed, and black seed (Guizotia abyssinica). The patient's serum-specific immunoglobulin (IgE) to Taraxacum, black seed, and canary seed was positive. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay inhibition studies revealed a 97 and 27% IgE-binding inhibition of whole canary food IgE by black seed and Taraxacum pollen, respectively. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis immunoblotting showed two IgE-binding protein bands of 11 and 44 kDa in the G. abyssinica extract. These two bands were totally inhibited by sunflower seed, mugwort, and Taraxacum extracts. Specific bronchial challenge with black seed extract was positive. The patient was able to feed her canary with birdseeds after she removed black seeds. We report a case of asthma caused by black seed (G. abyssinica) used as canary food in a patient previously allergic to pollen (olea europaea, grass, and mugwort) and sunflower seeds.