Oral Allergic Syndrome and Recombinant Allergens rBet v 1 and rBet v 2

Abstract

IgE cross-reactivity to Recombinant Allergens (RA) rBet v 1 and rBet v 2 (profilin) and food allergens may represent a basis for the development of oral allergic syndrome (OAS). We performed a retrospective study on 59 patients polisensitized to pollens and food allergens. They were given an assay of specific IgE against RA and, when positive, we calculated the percentage of these subjects who presented an OAS. As a result, 21 out of 59 patients (35.6%) were positive to rBet v 1, 23 out of 59 (38.9%) to profilin, and 5 out of 59 (8.4%) to both. Among RA positive patients 7 (33.3%) with specific IgE against rBet v 1 presented OAS, and 8 (34.7%) suffered from OAS. IgE to peanut and apple were mostly represented (57.1%) in patients positive to rBet v 1, while in subjects positive to profilin, we mainly observed IgE against peanut (75.0%). We suggest the importance of evaluating hypersensitivity to RA to predict the increase of OAS and, in particular, to reveal which fruits could be associated to OAS.