Potential hypersensitivity due to the food or food additive content of medicinal products in Spain.

The Drug Allergy Committee of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology reviewed the allergenic potential of several substances of food origin that are found in the composition of some drugs. Despite recent legislation on labeling, many labels do not clearly state whether the drug contains raw material (active ingredients, excipient, or other manufacturing intermediate) with an origin in any of the substances in the list of the 14 groups of food allergens that are subject to mandatory declaration. The objective of legislation is that the drug package, the Summary of Product Characteristics, and the patient information leaflet clearly state the food content in order to improve the safety of allergic patients. Therefore, any food or allergen derivative that must be declared should be clearly stated on the drug label. Of all the evaluated products, egg and milk derivatives are the most frequently discussed in literature reviews. The natural or synthetic origin of potentially allergenic substances such as lysozyme, casein, lactose, albumin, phosphatide, and aromatic essences should be clearly stated. Providing this information has 2 clear advantages. First, allergic reactions to drugs in patients with food allergy could be avoided (if the substances have a natural origin). Second, prescription would improve by not restricting drugs containing synthetic substances (which do not usually induce allergic reactions).

Delayed hypersensitivity to hydroxychloroquine manifested by two different types of cutaneous eruptions in the same patient.

Hydroxychloroquine (HXQ) sulphate is a synthetic antimalaria drug that is widely used in rheumatology due to its immunosuppressive properties. Delayed-type sensitization to this drug is rare. A 47-year-old woman diagnosed with HLA B27 ankylosing spondylitis was treated with HXQ for 22 days and had to discontinue the drug due to gastric intolerance. Five days later the patient developed erythema multiforme (EM) with an extensive and unusual distribution. Patch test with 10% HXQ in DMSO were positive at 48 hours. Eight days later a generalized pruriginous erythematous papular exanthema developed, and a skin biopsy was obtained. The first reaction was EM. Patch-testing elicited systemic eczematous contact dermatitis. We report two different clinical patterns of delayed hypersensitivity in the same patient and with the same drug.

Fixed drug eruption due to ibuprofen.

Fixed drug eruptions due to ibuprofen have rarely been reported. Two days after treatment with ibuprofen, a 61-year-old woman developed erythema and pain affecting the tongue and oral mucosa. Two months later, the patient started ibuprofen and erythromycin for a catarrhal episode with reappearance of the same lesions in the oral mucosa 24 hours later. Furthermore, two new erythematosus-violaceous maculae developed. Topical challenge through an occluded patch test with ibuprofen 5% on the residual cutaneous lesion was successful. We present an unusual case of fixed drug eruption due to ibuprofen

Allergy to mammal's meat in adult life: immunologic and follow-up study.

UNLABELLED: Allergy to bovine meat and Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is exceptional, especially in the adult life. BSA is considered a minor allergen in cow's milk allergy, but there is little information about this antigen in reactions produced by other beef products as meat. To our knowledge, evolutive studies of beef's allergic patients have not been reported. OBJECTIVE: To present one patient with several allergic reactions (urticaria-angioedema) after eating different mammals' meat. METHODS: The patient underwent allergy testing through skin prick test (SPT), specific IgE detection and SDS-PAGE Immunoblotting and Immunodot inhibition studies. Periodic determinations of specific IgE to meats and epithelia were performed. RESULTS: Routine studies for chronic urticaria were normal or negative. SPT showed positive responses to pork, cow, rabbit and lamb meat, and dog, pork, sheep and cow epithelia. It was negative to cat, horse, guinea pig, rabbit, lamb, mouse epithelia, mixture of feathers, cow milk, soybean, mustard, mites and chicken meat and Anisakis simplex. Intradermal testing to BSA was positive. Determinations of specific IgE were positive to beef meat, lamb meat, pork meat and rabbit meat, dog, cat, cow, sheep and pork dander, cow's milk, and negative to chicken meat. Immunoblot and immunodot studies showed IgE recognition bands to bovine and lamb meat which were totally inhibited by BSA. A progressive reduction of the total and specific IgE, the latter until its total negativization, has been observed in the following three-year period. CONCLUSION: We report a case of IgE-mediated urticaria-angioedema due to BSA hypersensitivity, possibly induced by a subclinical sensitivity to dog and cat epithelium. The exclusion diet in patients allergic to these foods may be a progressive loss of clinical allergy.

Non-occupational allergy caused by the pine processionary caterpillar (Thaumetopoea pityocampa).

UNLABELLED: Contact with the pine processionary caterpillar induces dermatitis, usually located in exposed areas, and, less frequently, ocular lesions through a toxic-irritative mechanism. Recently, the existence of an immediate hypersensitivity mechanism has been demonstrated, mainly in occupationally exposed patients. OBJECTIVE: To present four patients who experienced allergic reactions (urticaria-angioedema and rhinitis-asthma) after non-occupational exposure to pine processionary caterpillar. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The four patients underwent allergy testing through skin prick tests (SPT), specific IgE detection and SDS-PAGE immunoblotting. One patient also underwent a specific bronchial challenge test with the pine processionary antigen. RESULTS: In all patients, both SPT with the caterpillar extract and specific IgE were positive. Western blotting showed several IgE-binding bands with molecular mass values ranging from 18 to 107 kDa. A shift in the electrophoretic mobility of some of the relevant allergens occurred under the presence of a reductive agent (beta -mercaptoethanol). The specific bronchial challenge test with pine processionary antigen performed in one of the patients also produced positive results. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show an immunologic IgE-mediated immediate hypersensitivity mechanism in these reactions. The processionary caterpillar's airborne urticating hairs or spicules should be considered, at least in some locations, not only as contact and occupational allergens, but also as seasonal aeroallergens.

Long-term modification on histamine-induced bronchoconstriction by disodium cromoglycate and ketotifen versus placebo.

In order to compare long-term changes induced on a wide spectrum of bronchial hyperreactivity (BH) by the antiallergic drugs disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) and ketotifen, 56 asthmatic patients (age range 15-55 years) were studied. Patients were allocated to three groups with similar age and BH level. During 2 months, 15 individuals inhaled 20 mg DSCG four times a day, 14 took ketotifen 1 mg twice a day orally and 14 one placebo (lactose) capsule twice a day. After preliminary results, an additional group of 13 patients took clemastine 1 mg orally twice a day for 1 week. Only the ketotifen and clemastine groups differed significantly from the placebo group on shifting log dose-response curves of inhaled histamine. In addition, no significant difference was seen between the ketotifen and clemastine groups. These results suggest that changes induced by ketotifen were mainly related to its powerful antihistamine action; similarly, nonspecific BH is not wholly dependent on mediator release.