Panallergens and their impact on the allergic patient

Table 3 Classification of plant allergen families according to their patterns of distribution and IgE cross-reactivity

Classification	Plant allergen family	Clinically relevant IgE cross-reactivity between unrelated allergen sources	Distribution
			Pollen			Plant food				Product
			T	G	W	F	V	N	L	LA
Panallergens	Profilins	yes [7]	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Eurallergens	Polcalcins	yes [34]	X	X	X
	nsLTPs	yes [78]	X		X	X	X		X	X
	PR-10 proteins	yes [75]	X			X	X	X	X
	Hevein-like domain proteins	yes [79]	X			X	X	X		X
	β-1,3 glucanases	yes [80]	X			X	X			X
Stenallergens	Ole e 1-related proteins	no	X	X	X
	Polygalacturonases	no	X	X
	Pectate lyases	no	X		X
	Cyclophilins	no	X		X
	Thaumatin-like proteins	no	X			X	X
	Plant invertases	no	X			X
	Isoflavone reductases	no	X			X
	PR-1 proteins	no		X	X
	Expansins (N-terminal)	no		X		X
	α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors	no		X				X
	Cystatins	no			X	X
	Pectin methylesterases	no			X	X
	Patatins	no					X			X
	Barwin family proteins	no					X			X
	Cupins	no						X	X
	Fe/Mn Superoxide dismutases	no						X		X
	Thioredoxins	no						X		X
Monallergens	8 domain proteins	-	X
	Heat shock proteins (Hsp70)	-	X
	Expansins (C-terminal)	-		X
	Group 5/6 grass allergens	-			X
	Berberine bridge enzymes	-		X
	Protein kinases	-			X
	Group 5 ragweed allergens	-		X
	Papain-like cysteine proteases	-				X
	60S acidic ribosomal proteins	-				X
	Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitors	-					X
	Glycoside hydrolase family 32 proteins	-					X
	Cereal prolamins	-						X
	2S albumins	-						X
	Oleosins	-						X
	Serpin serine protease inhibitors	-						X
	α-amylases	-						X
	Legume lectins	-							X
	Rubber elongation factors	-								X
	SGNH-hydrolases	-								X

Due to their pattern of distribution and IgE cross-reactivity between unrelated species, plant allergens can be classified as (i) ubiquitously spread cross-reactive "panallergens" (Greek "pan": all), (ii) widespread cross-reactive "eurallergens" (Greek "euros": width), (iii) "stenallergens" (Greek: "stenos": tight), widespread allergen with limited cross-reaction, and (iv) "monallergens" (Greek "monos": single), which are restricted to a single allergen source. Detailed information on allergen families is available from the AllFam database http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/allergens/allfam/[81]. (Abbreviations: T, trees; G, grasses; W, weeds; F, fruits; V, vegetables; N, nuts and seeds; L, legumes; LA, latex)

ISSN: 1710-1492