Panallergens and their impact on the allergic patient

Table 2 Food allergies associated with pollinosis to common allergenic plants in Canada

Associated food allergen sources	Common pollen allergen sources in Canada
	Ragweed	Timothy grass	Birch
Fruits	banana Mus xp 1: profilin [7]		apple Mal d 1 PR-10 [73–75]
	melon Cuc m 2: profilin [7]		cherry Pru av 1: PR-10 [26, 73, 75]
		orange Cit s 2: profilin [7]
			kiwi
			peach Pru p 1: PR-10 [73]
			pear
			plum
	watermelon profilin [7]
Vegetables	cucumber		carrot Dau c 1: PR-10 [75] Dau c 4: profilin [73]
	zucchini		celery Api g 1: PR-10 [75] Api g 4: profilin [73]
		potato
		tomato Lyc e 1: profilin [7]
Legumes			soybean Gly m 4: PR-10 [76]
Nuts/Seeds			almond
			hazelnut Cor a 1: PR-10 [75]
			other nuts
		peanut Ara h 8 [5]

The individual profilins and members of the Bet v 1 allergen family (PR-10 proteins) listed in the table have been convincingly demonstrated to be of clinical relevance in ragweed, timothy grass, and birch pollinosis-associated food allergies [3, 5, 12, 13] by in vivo (SPT) or in vitro (mediator release) assays [5, 7, 26, 74–77]. A picture is now emerging in which profilins seem to be responsible for pollinosis-associated allergy to non-Rosaceae fruits (ragweed Amb a 8 and timothy grass Phl p 12). PR-10 proteins (Bet v 1) and to a minor extent profilins (Bet v 2) appear to be involved in food incompatibilities associated with birch pollinosis. Sensitization to nsLTPs seems to be linked to pollinosis-independent class I food allergies [68, 69]. Expression of polcalcins is restricted to pollen tissue and therefore, they do not play a role in pollen-associated food allergies [34].

ISSN: 1710-1492