[Food hypersensitivity in patients with pollen allergy].

Abstract

Clinical observations indicate the frequently reported food hypersensitivity among patients, sensitive to airborne allergens. Symptoms of food hypersensitivity in this group of patients are often exacerbated during the pollen season. These reactions may be the results of cross-reactions between pollen and food allergens or food and pollen allergy coexisting. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of food hypersensitivity in patients allergic to airborne allergens, the type of clinical manifestations and a kind of food frequently causing the symptoms. Retrospective analyses of case records of 55 randomly selected patients with airborne allergy aged from 18 to 72 yrs (mean 55 yrs), including 28 women ranging in age from 18 years to 62 yrs (mean 36 yrs) and 27 men aged from 18 to 72 yrs (mean 34 yrs) were carried out. All patients underwent skin prick tests with the following allergens: grass, rye, birch, alder, hazel, mugwort, plantain, Dermatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, skin dog, cat dander, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium herbarum. We assessed the type of clinical manifestations of pollen allergy and evaluated the type of clinical manifestations of food hypersensitivity and the type of foods that caused it. In the examined 55 patients, 15 individuals reported food hypersensitivity (27.2%), the most frequently after consumption of apples, carrots, cherry, peach, hazelnut, walnut, celery and nectarines. Clinical manifestation of food hypersensitivity was mainly oral allergy syndrome (OAS). Hypersensitivity to food above all was reported by patients with allergic rhinitis, sensitive to grass and tree pollen. Due to the high prevalence of food hypersensitivity in patients allergic to airborne allergens, it seems advisable to consider avoiding eating some foods, such as apple, carrots, cherries, peach, particularly frequently cross-reacting with grass and trees allergens. This dietary restriction can prevent about 30% of patients with inhalant allergy against onset of oral allergy.