Oral immunotherapy with peach juice in patients allergic to LTPs.

Introduction: To assess the safety and efficacy of an oral immunotherapy regimen in patients with allergy to lipid transfer proteins (LTPs).

Materials And Methods: Prospective study of 24 patients allergic to LTP with positive skin test and a history of anaphylaxis. All patients underwent a desensitization protocol with commercial peach juice.

Comparison of IgE-binding capacity, cross-reactivity and biological potency of allergenic non-specific lipid transfer proteins from peach, cherry and hazelnut.

Background: Whether the observed clinical pattern of non-specific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP)-mediated food allergies is attributable to a primary sensitization by Pru p 3 from peach and subsequent cross-reactivity with Rosaceae- and non-Rosaceae-derived foods expressing homologous allergens is still unclear.

Objective: To investigate the allergenic properties of nsLTPs from Rosaceae and non-Rosaceae foods.

Methods: In peach-, cherry- or hazelnut-allergic patients, prevalence of sensitization, IgE-binding capacity, cross-reactivity and allergenic potency of Pru p 3 was compared with Pru av 3 (cherry) and Cor a 8 (hazelnut).

Sensitization to Alternaria in patients with respiratory allergy.

Alternaria alternata (AA) is an important mould in respiratory allergic diseases. The objective is to determine the prevalence of AA sensitization in respiratory allergic patients and to examine the annual variation of Alternaria spores. 824 patients between 5 and 65 years old with allergic rhinitis and /or asthma were enrolled.

Conjunctivitis and Total IgE in Lacrimal Fluid: Lacrytest Screening.

Total tear IgE has been considered to play an important role in allergic conjunctivitis, and measurement has been considered useful for diagnosis. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether Lacrytest(®), a new commercialised method to detect IgE levels in lacrimal fluid, could constitute a screening test for the diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis. This was a cross-sectional study.

Allergy to human seminal fluid: cross-reactivity with dog dander.

Background: Human seminal plasma (HSP) allergy is uncommon, with symptoms ranging from vulvovaginal pruritus to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Although several seminal plasma allergens have been reported and their molecular masses have been estimated to range between 12 and 75 kd, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has recently been identified as a causative allergen. Given that in a large number of cases symptoms appeared during or after the first intercourse, a cross-reactivity phenomenon might be implicated.

Molecular characterisation of Lac s 1, the major allergen from lettuce (Lactuca sativa).

Background: IgE sensitisation to non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTP), e.g., Pru p 3 the major allergen from peach and most important allergenic LTP, is strongly associated with severe symptoms in food allergic patients.

Relevance of the recombinant lipid transfer protein of Hevea brasiliensis: IgE-binding reactivity in fruit-allergic adults.

Background: Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are relevant allergens in certain plants. The role of the LTP of Hevea brasiliensis in the latex-fruit syndrome is widely unknown.

Objective: To study IgE reactivity with recombinant Hevea LTP in sera of fruit-allergic adults with and without natural rubber latex (NRL) allergy.

Specific immunotherapy for food allergy: basic principles and clinical aspects.

Purpose Of Review: Food allergy may be life threatening and its management continues to consist of avoiding relevant allergens and, in the case of accidental ingestion, initiation of appropriate emergency therapy. The aim of this article is to describe current treatment approaches and discuss attempts to use specific immunotherapy for food-allergy treatment.

Recent Findings: A recent study reports the use of sublingual immunotherapy for hazelnut food allergy in hazelnut-allergic patients.

Aspirin desensitization in the treatment of antiphospholipid syndrome during pregnancy in ASA-sensitive patients.

Problem: Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is associated with thrombosis and poor pregnancy outcome in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Patients with aPL have a high risk of foetal loss. However, with low-dose aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid; ASA) in combination with subcutaneous heparin, the chances of full-term delivery increase.

Sublingual immunotherapy for hazelnut food allergy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with a standardized hazelnut extract.

Background: Food allergy may be life-threatening, and patients affected need to receive accurate diagnoses and treatment. Hazelnut has often been implicated as responsible for allergic reactions, and trace quantities can induce systemic reactions.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of sublingual immunotherapy with a standardized hazelnut extract in patients allergic to hazelnut.

Strong allergenicity of Pru av 3, the lipid transfer protein from cherry, is related to high stability against thermal processing and digestion.

Background: Nonspecific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) have been identified as major fruit allergens in patients from the Mediterranean area. Sensitization to nsLTPs is accompanied by severe reactions, possibly because of specific biophysical and biochemical properties of this allergen family.

Objective: To assess the protein stability and allergenic potency of nsLTP from fruits in comparison with birch pollen-related allergens from the same allergenic source.

Recombinant lipid transfer protein Cor a 8 from hazelnut: a new tool for in vitro diagnosis of potentially severe hazelnut allergy.

Background: Cor a 1.04 has been identified as the major hazelnut allergen in 65 European patients with positive double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge results to hazelnut. Recently, the 11S globulin Cor a 9 was shown to be a pollen-independent hazelnut allergen in the United States, whereas preliminary data suggest the lipid transfer protein (LTP) as an important birch pollen-unrelated hazelnut allergen in Europe.

Component-resolved diagnosis with recombinant allergens in patients with cherry allergy.

Background: In pollen-related food allergy, extracts for skin prick tests (SPTs) are often not standardized, and the test reliability is affected by false-negative reactions.

Objective: We sought to evaluate a panel of recombinant allergens (RAs) derived from one allergenic food for use in component-resolved in vivo diagnosis, taking cherry as a model food.

Methods: Seventy-nine subjects were included in the study: 24 Swiss patients (group 1) with a positive double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge result to cherries, 23 patients with birch pollen allergy but without cherry allergy (group 2), 23 nonatopic subjects (group 3), and 9 Spanish patients with a history of a cherry allergy (group 4).