The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice
Original ArticleClinical Characterization and IgE Profiling of Birch (Betula verrucosa)–Allergic Individuals Suffering from Allergic Reactions to Raw Fruits and Vegetables
Section snippets
Subjects
The study group consisted of 59 individuals, 11 male (19%) and 48 female (81%) subjects, age range from 18 to 55 years (Table I). The subjects were identified from the database of the Skin and Allergy Hospital and were required to fulfill the following criteria and to be available both for an open challenge test and blood donation. All the individuals experienced birch pollen allergy, confirmed by a positive SPT (mean wheal diameter, 3 mm or more) as well as a clinical history of birch pollen
Clinical profiling of individuals with birch pollen allergy
When interviewed, all 59 individuals with a positive birch SPT reported having seasonal allergy to birch pollen. As for symptoms, all reported rhinitis, 58 of 59 (98%) reported eye symptoms, and 32 of 59 (54%) reported asthmatic symptoms during the birch pollen season. When examined, 54 of 59 individuals (92%) also had positive SPTs to fruits and vegetables, and reported having immediate oral symptoms when eating them. In addition, 36 of 54 (67%) reported immediate skin contact symptoms, such
Discussion
Allergic reactions to raw fruits and vegetables are considered to be the most common form of food allergy in adolescents and adults.9, 10, 11, 12 Accordingly, in the present study, the majority of the individuals with birch pollen allergy reported having allergic reactions to foods that are associated with birch pollen allergy (Table I). In fact, it was difficult to find individuals with birch pollen allergy and without any allergies to fruits and/or vegetables. In our allergy testing unit, in
Acknowledgments
We thank Mette Ravnsnaes Villadsen from ALK-Abelló for technical assistance, and Rafael Monsalve, ALK-Abelló, Madrid, for rMal d 1 and rBet v 1. We also thank Henrik Ipsen from ALK-Abelló for statistical analyses and Rikke Lolck from ALK-Abelló for support for this study.
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The in vitro diagnostics were funded by ALK-Abelló.
Conflicts of interest: M. B. Skydtsgaard, P. G. Milvang, and U. Seppälä are employed by ALK-Abelló. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.
Cite this article as: Tolkki L, Alanko K, Petman L, Skydtsgaard MB, Milvang PG, Seppälä U, et al. Clinical characterization and IgE profiling of birch (Betula verrucosa)-allergic individuals suffering from allergic reactions to raw fruits and vegetables. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2013;1:623-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2013.07.010.