Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Armentia

Publications and source records attributed to A Armentia.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Allergy to the pine processionary caterpillar (Thaumetopoea pityocampa).

BACKGROUND: The contact with the pine processionary caterpillar (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) induces dermatitis and ocular lesions by a mechanic and toxic mechanism. However, IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to this caterpillar has been demonstrated in two recent studies. OBJECTIVE: To find if an IgE-mediated mechanism was operative among patients with suspected previous reactions to processionary caterpillars, particularly exposed workers. METHODS: Fifty-five patients were studied by skin prick test (SPT), and specific IgE detection by immunoblotting. RESULTS: A total of 58.18% patients had a positive SPT for caterpillar extract. Positive SPT patients had more generalized cutaneous reactions (47%) and oedema (50%) as well as a shorter latency period (mean, 36 min) and duration of cutaneous lesions (mean, 26 h) than the patients with negative SPT. A total of 60% of the positive SPT patients had occupational exposure to the processionary caterpillar. The occupationally exposed workers showed significant symptoms from October to December. The anaphylactic reactions only appeared in allergic patients with occupational exposure and were also more frequent from October to December. These patients with anaphylactic reactions had a major size of SPT and the exercise was found in them to be a variable that increased the symptoms. The IgE immunoblot detected in the caterpillar extract several reactive bands with apparent molecular weights from to 35-4 kDa in 72% of the cases with positive SPT. CONCLUSIONS: Allergic reactions to T. pityocampa urticating hairs have different clinical characteristics than those induced by a toxic-irritative mechanism and are more frequent than suspected. Allergic reactions to this caterpillar among occasional visitors to pine-wood areas, and particularly in pine-forest workers, should be taken into consideration by allergists.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Occupational asthma by Anisakis simplex.

BACKGROUND: No cases of occupational asthma caused by the inhalation of antigens from Anisakis simplex have been published. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility that A simplex can play a role in the asthma experienced by 2 workers when handling fish and fish flour. METHODS: Skin prick and bronchial challenge tests with A simplex were performed. We also carried out measurements of specific IgE to A simplex and immunoblotting. RESULTS: Both patients had strong positive skin test responses, challenge test responses, and specific IgE to A simplex. Immunoblotting showed that both patients also had IgE against several bands in the fish flour extract, suggesting contamination by Anisakis allergens. CONCLUSION: These 2 patients provide evidence for occupational asthma caused by A simplex, based on in vivo and in vitro tests for Anisakis-specific IgE.

Allergens↗
PubMed1998

Delayed-type hypersensitivity to subcutaneous enoxaparin.

BACKGROUND: Enoxaparin and other low-molecular-weight heparins are widely used to prevent and treat thromboembolic disorders. Cutaneous reactions secondary to enoxaparin injections include delayed hypersensitivity skin reactions described as erythematous, infiltrated plaques at injection sites. We studied three cases of erythematous infiltrated plaques after enoxaparin injection in order to establish the allergenic importance of this low-molecular-weight heparin. METHODS: Patch tests were performed with sodium heparin, calcium heparin, calcium enoxaparin, and calcium nadroparin. A subcutaneous test with calcium heparin and an intravenous challenge test with sodium heparin were done. A punch biopsy was obtained from an erythematous plaque in one patient. RESULTS: Patch tests were negative to calcium heparin in all patients, positive to enoxaparin and nadroparin in two patients, and positive to sodium heparin in one patient. In two patients, the subcutaneous challenge test was positive, the intravenous challenge test was negative, and the histopathologic appearance of the biopsy resembled a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction. CONCLUSIONS: These cases provide evidence of type IV hypersensitivity and the possibility of crossed-allergenicity among unfractionated heparin and low-molecular-weight heparins. We show that the subcutaneous challenge test is the most reliable diagnostic measure.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Occupational allergic disease in cereal workers by stored grain pests.

It is well known that workers occupationally exposed to grain dust have a high prevalence of respiratory symptoms, but their pathogenesis remains obscure when sensitization to cereal flour cannot be demonstrated. Storage mites, tenebroids, and cockroaches are stored-grain pests found in grain and cereal products frequently in our area, where the cereal industry is the most important industry. An epidemiological analysis of sensitization of these stored-grain pests was performed on 4379 patients residing in an area of cereal industries. Fifty grain workers were selected for in vivo diagnostic tests with nine genera of mites, Tenebrio molitor and Blatta orientalis. Specific IgE antibodies to the extracts were demonstrated by prick tests and RAST. Association between respiratory symptoms and occupational exposure was confirmed by challenge tests (specific and methacholine). The prevalence of mite sensitization in the total sample studied (4379) was 18.96% (SEM 0.58, 95% CI 16.93-19.19). The prevalence of sensitization to storage mites among mite-sensitive patients was 11.88% (SEM 1.15, 95% CI 9.63-14.3). Among the 50 selected patients the most frequent sensitization was that to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (58%), followed by Dermatophagoides frinae (48%), Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (38%), Blomia kulagini (34%), and Acarus siro and Chortoglyphus arcuatus (24%). In addition, 22% of the patients presented negative prick tests and RAST for Dermatophagoides species with positive test to storage mites. Fifty percent of the 50 patients were sensitizated to Tenebrio molitor (SEM 0.7, CI 95% 36-64), and 36% to Blatta orientalis (SEM 0.67, CI 95% 23-49). The identification of mites, tenebroids, and cockroaches in dust samples yields useful data for the diagnosis of our patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Wheat flour peroxidase is a prominent allergen associated with baker's asthma.

BACKGROUND: Putative wheat allergens with molecular sizes around 35kDa have been repeatedly detected in immunoblots using sera from patients with baker's asthma. However, none of these allergens had been previously isolated. OBJECTIVE: To purify and characterize a major component of the 35 kDa allergenic band which seems to be present in flour from diploid, tetraploid (pasta) and hexaploid (bread) wheats. METHODS: Gel-filtration chromatography followed by RP-HPLC have allowed the purification of a new wheat allergen. Immunodetection with sera from allergic patients and with a specific serum for asparagine-linked complex glycans, as well as amino acid sequencing, were used to identify the isolated protein. RESULTS: A 36 kDa allergen has been purified from wheat flour. Its N-terminal and internal sequences, N-linked glycans, and enzymatic activity indicated that this allergen is a seed-specific peroxidase. Sera from six out of 10 patients hypersensitive to wheat flour displayed positive reactions when assayed against the purified dot-blotted allergen. CONCLUSION: Seed-specific peroxidases from cereals (flours) seem to be important allergens in hypersensitive diseases associated with the manipulation of these plant materials. A new enzyme has thus been involved in IgE-mediated diseases.

Allergens↗
PubMed1996

Role of complex asparagine-linked glycans in the allergenicity of plant glycoproteins.

Many plant proteins, particularly those found in foods and pollen, are known to act as sensitizing agents in humans upon repeated exposure. Among the cereal flour proteins involved in asthmatic reactions, those members of the alpha-amylase inhibitor family which are glycosylated, polypeptides, BMAI-1, BTAI-CMb*, and WTAI-CM16* are particularly reactive both in vivo and in vitro. We show here that these major glycoprotein allergens carry a single asparagine-linked complex glycan that contains both beta 1-->2 xylose and alpha 1-->3 fucose. Evidence is presented that the xylosyl residue and, to a lesser extent, the fucosyl residue are key IgE-binding epitopes and largely responsible for the allergenicity of these and unrelated proteins from plants and insects. Our results suggest that the involvement of xylose- and fucose-containing complex glycans in allergenic responses may have been underestimated previously; these glycans provide a structural basis to help explain the cross-reactivities often observed between pollen, vegetable food, and insect allergens.

Allergens↗
PubMed1996

Rye flour allergens associated with baker's asthma. Correlation between in vivo and in vitro activities and comparison with their wheat and barley homologues.

BACKGROUND: A number of wheat and barley flour proteins that belong to the cereal alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor family have been identified as major allergens associated with baker's asthma. However, the allergenic role of this protein family had not been investigated in rye. OBJECTIVE: To study the allergenicity of five purified proteins from rye flour which belong to the same inhibitor family, as well as to compare their properties with those of their wheat and barley homologues. METHODS: In vivo skin-prick tests were carried out in 21 patients with radioallergosorbent test (RAST) 2-3 to rye and allergic sensitization mainly to this cereal flour. In addition, sera from all these patients were used to assay the IgE binding capacity of dot blotted purified proteins. RESULTS: Three of the rye proteins tested, namely Sec c 1, RDAI-1 and RDAI-3, provoked positive skin-prick tests in more than 50% of patients, although their in vitro reactivity was lower. Different reactivities were found for the rye components compared with their wheat and barley homologues. Statistical analyses showed a significant correlation between the results of in vivo and in vitro tests for seven out of the nine purified proteins considered in this study. CONCLUSION: Members of the rye alpha-amylase inhibitor family are main allergens involved in allergic reactions to cereal flours. However, different allergenic behaviours were found between homologous allergens from rye, barley, and wheat.

Allergens↗
PubMed1995

A major baker's asthma allergen from rye flour is considerably more active than its barley counterpart.

A rye flour protein of about 13.5 kDa, as well as its barley homologue, have been isolated. The rye component was recognized in vitro by IgE of allergic patients and provoked positive responses in 15 out of 21 baker's asthma patients (71%) when skin prick tests were performed. Its barley homologue showed no detectable in vitro reactivity and caused positive responses in only one-third of patients. Although no inhibitory activity against different alpha-amylases or trypsin was found for these two proteins, their N-terminal sequencing revealed considerable similarity to several members of the cereal alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor family.

Allergens↗
PubMed1993

In vivo allergenic activities of eleven purified members of a major allergen family from wheat and barley flour.

Eleven purified members of the alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor family from wheat and barley that showed very different IgE-binding capacities when previously assayed in vitro, were used in double blind in vivo diagnostic tests to further evaluate their allergenic activity. These tests were carried out in 31 patients who showed allergic sensitization to wheat flour as verified by skin test, RAST and challenge test. The three members of the protein family with highest IgE binding in vitro (the glycosylated subunits of tetrameric alpha-amylase inhibitors CM16* from wheat and CMb* from barley, and the barley monomeric inhibitor BMAI-1) were found to be the strongest allergens as indicated by skin sensitivity in prick tests.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Wheat and barley allergens associated with baker's asthma. Glycosylated subunits of the alpha-amylase-inhibitor family have enhanced IgE-binding capacity.

A 16 kDa protein, designated CM16*, which strongly binds IgE from baker's-asthma patients has been identified as a glycosylated form of the previously reported WTAI-CM16, which is a subunit of the wheat tetrameric alpha-amylase inhibitor. A glycosylated form (CMb*) of BTAI-CMb, the equivalent inhibitor subunit from barley, has been also found to have significantly enhanced IgE-binding capacity. In all, 14 purified members of the alpha-amylase/trypsin-inhibitor family showed very different IgE-binding capacities when tested by a dot-blot assay. The glycosylated components CM16*, CMb* and the previously described non-glycosylated 14.5 kDa allergen from barley (renamed BMAI-1) were found to be the strongest allergens.

Allergens↗