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The clinical & immunological characteristics of kiwi fruit allergy in the UK

The clinical & immunological characteristics of kiwi fruit allergy in the UK
The clinical & immunological characteristics of kiwi fruit allergy in the UK

The results of this study confirmed that kiwi should be considered a significant food allergen, capable of causing severe reactions, particularly in young children. DBPCFC confirmed allergy to kiwi fruit in 53% of the subjects tested, who had a pervious history suggestive of kiwi allergy. Skin testing with fresh fruit has good sensitivity (93%), but poor specificity (45%) in this population. CAP slgE and a commercially available skin test solution were both much less sensitive (54%; 75%) but had better specificity (90%;67%. Patients with allergy to pollens were as likely to have severe kiwi allergy as those without. Inhibition immunoblots and ELISAs showed that cross reactivity with pollens is not common in this UK population.

This was the first study to demonstrate that patients with oral allergy syndrome react to digestion labile epitopes, in contrast to patients with systemic symptoms whose IgE binds to digestion stable epitopes. Pepsin digestion of kiwi fruit in vitro was effected by minor changes in acidity, presumably affected the sensization capacity of the proteins.

Western blotting to kiwi fruit protein extract revealed twelve proteins which were bound by IgE. A protein with a molecular weight of 38 kDa was the major allergen in this population, recognized by 59% of the population. No IgE bound to actinidin (Act c1), in kiwi protein extract, purified native or recombinant forms of actinidin during Western blotting. Pooled sera bound to kiwi protein extract but not purified actinidin on ELISA. Pre-incubating sera with actinidin did not inhibit IgE binding to kiwi protein extract on immunoblots or ELISA. This confirms that kiwi fruit contains multiple allergens, but actinidin, previous reported as the major kiwi fruit allergen, is not one of them in this large study population.

University of Southampton
Lucas, Jane Sarah Anne
Lucas, Jane Sarah Anne

Lucas, Jane Sarah Anne (2005) The clinical & immunological characteristics of kiwi fruit allergy in the UK. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

The results of this study confirmed that kiwi should be considered a significant food allergen, capable of causing severe reactions, particularly in young children. DBPCFC confirmed allergy to kiwi fruit in 53% of the subjects tested, who had a pervious history suggestive of kiwi allergy. Skin testing with fresh fruit has good sensitivity (93%), but poor specificity (45%) in this population. CAP slgE and a commercially available skin test solution were both much less sensitive (54%; 75%) but had better specificity (90%;67%. Patients with allergy to pollens were as likely to have severe kiwi allergy as those without. Inhibition immunoblots and ELISAs showed that cross reactivity with pollens is not common in this UK population.

This was the first study to demonstrate that patients with oral allergy syndrome react to digestion labile epitopes, in contrast to patients with systemic symptoms whose IgE binds to digestion stable epitopes. Pepsin digestion of kiwi fruit in vitro was effected by minor changes in acidity, presumably affected the sensization capacity of the proteins.

Western blotting to kiwi fruit protein extract revealed twelve proteins which were bound by IgE. A protein with a molecular weight of 38 kDa was the major allergen in this population, recognized by 59% of the population. No IgE bound to actinidin (Act c1), in kiwi protein extract, purified native or recombinant forms of actinidin during Western blotting. Pooled sera bound to kiwi protein extract but not purified actinidin on ELISA. Pre-incubating sera with actinidin did not inhibit IgE binding to kiwi protein extract on immunoblots or ELISA. This confirms that kiwi fruit contains multiple allergens, but actinidin, previous reported as the major kiwi fruit allergen, is not one of them in this large study population.

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Published date: 2005

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 465855
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465855
PURE UUID: 09144041-d2ec-4183-9449-f6901376d247

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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 03:18
Last modified: 05 Jul 2022 03:18

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Contributors

Author: Jane Sarah Anne Lucas

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