ABSTRACT
Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) is a severe systemic syndrome induced by physical exercise after ingesting causative food. Aspirin is a well-known trigger for anaphylaxis in patients with FDEIA. Possible mechanisms by which symptoms are aggravated by aspirin include enhanced antigen absorption and mast cell activation. The aim of this study was to determine whether aspirin intake has an influence on mast cell/basophil activation in patients with FDEIA. Provocation tests revealed that adding aspirin to the causative food challenge in 7 of 9 (77.8%) patients with FDEIA provoked symptoms. In most cases, pretreatment with aspirin did not enhance skin tests (71.4%) or histamine release tests (88.9%) with food allergen challenges. The study confirms that histamine release and skin prick tests can be adjunctive tools for diagnosing FDEIA. In addition, our results suggest that exacerbation of FDEIA symptoms by aspirin is not mediated by direct effects of aspirin on mast cell/basophil activation.
