Patch test reading: a comparison between 2 application methods.

Latex, a natural plant material, has gained increasing interest over the last years because of its allergenic potency inducing problems in medical professions as well as in daily life. Since 1979 reports on allergic spontaneous reactions induced by latex products (such as gloves, condoms, balloons, cofferdam) have increased steadily. Symptoms manifest clinically as contact urticaria, rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma or anaphylactic shock. Some of these patients may additionally have an alimentary allergy (avocado, banana, maron i.e.), possibly containing agents cross-reacting with latex. Pathophysiologically the allergy is IgE-mediated, because antigen-specific IgE antibodies have been found in vitro as well as in vivo. Health professionals, workers in gum manufacturing and individuals with spina bifida have been found to be at special risk for a latex allergy therefore, it is important that these persons at risk are recognized and occasionally tested prior to interventions or operations. Strict avoidance of the use of latex products is the primary preventive measure, which may occasionally be difficult, particularly in patients with respiratory diseases.

Allergens↗

PubMed1996

Reduction of 14-16 kDa allergenic proteins in transgenic rice plants by antisense gene.

An antisense gene strategy was applied to suppress the 14-16 kDa allergen gene expression in maturing rice seeds. Gene constructs producing antisense RNAs of the 16 kDa allergen under the control of some rice seed-specific promoters were introduced into rice by electroporation. Immunoblot and RNA blot analyses of the seeds from the transgenic rice plants using the allergen-specific monoclonal antibody and a sequence-specific antisense RNA probe demonstrated that the 14-16 kDa allergen proteins and their transcripts of the seeds from several transgenic lines were present in much lower in amounts than those of the seeds from parental wild-type rice. The high levels of reduction observed were stably inherited in at least three generations.

Allergens↗

PubMed1996

Secondary structure and tertiary fold of the birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 in solution.

Bet v 1 is the major birch pollen allergen and therefore the main cause of type I allergies observed in early spring. It is composed of 159 amino acid residues adding up to a molecular mass of 17 kDa. We determined the secondary structure and tertiary fold of full-length Bet v 1 by NMR spectroscopy. Two- and three-dimensional NMR measurements suggest that Bet v 1 is a globular monomer in solution with a high content of well defined secondary structure. Of the total of 159 residues, 135 could be sequentially assigned, using an improved assignment strategy based mainly on heteronuclear experiments. An improved strategy for structure calculation revealed three helices and two beta-sheets as major elements of secondary structure. The globular tertiary structure is mainly stabilized by two antiparallel beta-sheets. The two helices at the C terminus are in accordance with the results from the solution structure of the chemically synthesized peptide Bet v 1-(125-154). This peptide is composed of two helices connected by a hinge. The structural features of Bet v 1 are highly similar to those found in the Ambrosia allergen Amb t V.

Allergens↗