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Nickel (Ni), the main responsible for allergic contact dermatitis worldwide, is also involved in systemic condition called "Systemic Nickel Sulfate Allergy Syndrome (SNAS)." Likewise, IgE-mediated reactivity to Lipid Transfer Protein (LTP) represents the main cause of primary food allergy in adults of Mediterranean countries. We evaluated the prevalence of SNAS in LTP allergic patients and investigated patients' clinical features with double sensitization (LTP and Ni). A retrospective, single-center, observational study was conducted performing a complete allergological work-up including: (1) skin prick tests; (2) serum specific IgE for plant food allergens and rPru p3 (LTP); (3) patch test with 5% Ni sulfate in petrolatum. We enrolled 140 LTP allergic patients of which 36 patients (25.7% of sample) showed additional positivity to Ni patch test. Patients with double sensitization were more frequently females and reported fewer cutaneous symptoms. Higher values of sIgE for peach, apple, peanut, walnut, grain, corn, and garlic were found in LTP allergic patients, while higher values for hazelnut in the other subgroup. The prevalence of SNAS in the LTP allergic population is clinically relevant. Moreover, the clinical and immunological profiles of patients with double sensitization were different from patients monosensitized to LTP.

Dermatological risks in supermarkets are largely comparable to those found in other workplaces such as food industry and trade in general Using two Pubmed search strings (one more specific, the other more sensitive) 11 papers were found (5 pertinent). The reasons for the little information may be the particular employment conditions that occur , in large-scale distribution. From this derives the difficulty in defining the epidemiology of skin diseases in the field and the need to refer to the literature on skin diseases in food handlers and cashiers. The most frequent dermatological disease in food handlers is irritant contact dermatitis, while the protein contact dermatitis seems to be more widespread than previously thought. Hand eczema together with nickel contact allergy is not rare in cashiers, but it can be difficult to assess if nickel allergy was occupationally acquired.

Background: Peach allergy is regarded as one of the most important fresh fruit allergies. Data are available on the state-of-the-art diagnosis, including food challenges, and a component-resolved diagnosis. However, the roles played by different peach allergens with respect to symptom severity are not completely understood., Objective: To evaluate the role of serum specific IgE to peach and recombinant allergens in the diagnosis of peach allergies in Italian children., Methods: Forty-four children with peach allergy confirmed by a placebo-controlled food challenge were divided into 2 groups based on their symptom severity: patients with mild oral allergy syndrome (OAS) and patients with systemic symptoms (SS). The presence of specific IgE to peach and rPru p 1, rPru p 3, and rPru p 4 was determined., Results: The presence of specific IgE to Pru p 4 and Pru p 1 was found significantly more frequently in patients with OAS, whereas specific IgE to Pru p 3 was not found significantly more frequently in patients with SS. Only anti-rPru p 4 IgE levels were significantly higher in patients with OAS, whereas no significant differences were found in anti-rPru p 1 and anti-rPru p 3 IgE levels between patients with OAS compared with patients with SS., Conclusion: In Italian children with peach allergies, the presence of specific IgE to Pru p 3 is not associated with SS, and the levels of specific IgE to Pru p 3 do not correlate with the severity of the reactions., (Copyright © 2012 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Peach allergy can be caused by the allergen Pru p 1. This occurs by cross-reactivity with the homologous birch pollen allergen Bet v 1. However, the direct identification of Pru p 1 as an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-binding protein extracted from peach fruit has never been reported., Results: Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and phenol extractions were applied to solubilise the proteins from peach peel and pulp, and IgE immunoblotting with sera of individual peach-allergic patients was used to detect the potential allergens. Most of the patients showed binding to an 18 kDa band in IgE immunoblotting performed with the phenolic extracts of peach peel and pulp, but not when the PBS extracts were used. Mass spectrometry of the 18 kDa spot excised from a two-dimensional electrophoretic gel showed this protein to correspond to the peach allergen Pru p 1., Conclusion: Phenol extraction was necessary to detect by IgE immunoblotting a major peach allergen, which showed very low extractability with PBS, indicating the appropriateness of adopting different extraction procedures to identify plant allergens. The 18 kDa peach protein was definitively identified as the Bet v 1-homologous peach allergen Pru p 1., (Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.)