Def .: A complex of clinical symptoms in people allergic to latex after eating foods that cross-react with latex allergens.
Epid .: Difficult to define.
Etiol .: Cross-reactions between latex allergens and certain foods play a fundamental role in the development of clinical symptoms. It is an immediate, IgE-mediated allergic reaction. Most patients have other IgE-mediated diseases. Natural rubber latex contains approximately 2% proteins that cross-react with antigens from other plants. The main panallergen of the team are chitinases, and glucanases and other smaller latex allergens also play an additional role. Foods most likely to cause symptoms are bananas, chestnuts, kiwi, avocado, papaya, less commonly potatoes, peaches, mangoes, melons, pineapples, tomatoes, and spinach. Recently, attention has also been paid to the possibility of cassava, zucchini and turnips causing symptoms of the syndrome. Patients allergic to natural rubber latex are also often hypersensitive to pollen from trees, grasses, and / or weeds.
Clinical signs of latex-fruit syndrome may concern all IgE-dependent allergic diseases: urticaria, conjunctivitis, cough, vomiting, and usually mild asthma and anaphylactic shock. Hypersensitivity to latex does not always have to be clinically manifested, but can only be manifested by a positive point test and / or a positive RAST.
DL: Skin prick tests, determination of the levels of total IgE and antigen-specific IgE antibodies in the blood serum in relation to food allergens. In the case of diagnostics in relation to latex allergens, the safest method is to determine the level of antigen-specific IgE antibodies in the blood serum, because an anaphylactic reaction may develop during skin tests. Additionally, specific challenge tests can be performed with suspect food.
Treatment: Prophylaxis by avoiding contact with intolerant fruit and vegetables. When symptoms occur – antihistamines.
Lit.: [1] Ibero M., Castillo M.J., Pineda F.: Allergy to cassava: a new allergenic food with cross-reactivity to latex. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2007, 17(6); 409-12. [2] Pereira C., Tavares B., Loureiro G., Lundberg M., Chieira C.: Turnip and zucchini: new foods in the latex-fruit syndrome. Allergy 2007, 62(4); 452-3. [3] Yagami A., Nakazawa Y., Suzuki K., Matsunaga K.: Curry spice allergy associated with pollen-food allergy syndrome and latex-fruit syndrome. J Dermatol 2009, 36(1); 45-9.
Source: A. Kaszuba, Z. Adamski: “Lexicon of dermatology”; XNUMXst edition, Czelej Publishing House