Background: Although cross-reactivity with other plant-based foods and latex has been described, allergies to potatoes and tomatoes are uncommon.Objective: To study the different sensitization patterns in patients who are allergic to potatoes and/or tomatoes.Methods: Skin prick tests were carried out with fresh foods and extracts, specific IgE determination and allergen detection by SDS-PAGE and IgE-Immunoblotting with both raw and heated potato and tomato extracts.Results: In 10 patients, two thermostable allergens to potato extract were detected; the first one with a molecular weight that is compatible with Sola t 1 (43 kDa, patatin) and the second one with a molecular weight of 14-22 kDa, which could correspond to the allergens Sola t 4 (16 kDa) and Sola t 2 and Sola t 3 (21 kDa); in two patients who are allergic to potatoes and two patients who are allergic to tomatoes, a thermostable allergen that is compatible to Sola I 2 (50 kDa) was detected. The patient had presented oral allergy syndrome with some types of potatoes and showed higher IgE reactivity to two thermostable potato allergens.Conclusions: The allergen sensitization patterns were similar in all the patients that had been studied, regardless of the symptoms. A new allergen involved in the allergy to solanaceae plants has been detected.
11 October 2023 in Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology
There is no description of the drivers of prescription for allergen immunotherapy (AIT) for respiratory allergic diseases. A prospective, multicentre, observational, non-interventional real-life study was performed in France and Spain for 20 months. Data were gathered using 2 different questionnaires, anonymously collected in an online platform. No names of AIT products were recorded. Multivariate analysis and unsupervised cluster analysis were performed. One hundred and three physicians (50.5% from Spain and 49.5% from France) reported 1735 patients (433 in France and 1302 in Spain), 47.9% males, 64.8% adults with a mean age 26.2 years old. They suffered from allergic rhinitis (99%), allergic conjunctivitis (70.4%), allergic asthma (51.8%), atopic dermatitis (13.9%), and food allergy (9.9%). A clustering analysis based on 13 predefined relevant variables for AIT-prescription identified 5 different clusters, each of them including information regarding doctor's profile and patient demographics, baseline disease characteristics, and main AIT indication: 1) Looking at the future: focusing on asthma prevention (n = 355), 2) Efficacy after discontinuation of AIT (n = 293), 3) Fighting severe allergic disease (n = 322), 4) Looking at the present, facing current symptoms (n = 265) and 5) Doctor's own clinical experience (n = 500). Each one of these clusters have specific patients' and doctors' characteristics, representing distinctive AIT prescription drivers. Using data-driven analysis, we identified for the first time some reasons and patterns of AIT prescriptions in real-life clinical settings. There is no uniform indication for prescribing AIT, which varies amongst patients and doctors with multiple but specific drivers, taking into account several relevant parameters.