Sensitization to cashew nut 2S albumin, Ana o 3, is highly predictive of cashew and pistachio allergy in Greek children

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology Vol. 136; no. 1; pp. 192 - 194
• Main Authors: Savvatianos, Savvas, MD, Konstantinopoulos, Anastasios P., MD, Borgå, Åse, PhD, Stavroulakis, George, MD, Lidholm, Jonas, PhD, Borres, Magnus P., MD, PhD, Manousakis, Emmanouil, MD, Papadopoulos, Nikolaos G., MD, PhD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.07.2015; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: 2S Albumins, Plant - immunology; Allergens - immunology; Allergies; Allergy and Immunology; Anacardium - immunology; Antigens, Plant - immunology; Child; Female; Greece; Humans; Immunization; Immunoassay; Immunoglobulin E - blood; Male; Nut Hypersensitivity - diagnosis; Nut Hypersensitivity - immunology; Nuts; Patients; Pistacia - immunology; Plant Proteins - immunology; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Recombinant Proteins; Greece
• ISSN: 0091-6749; 1097-6825; 1097-6825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.03.037

A very high correlation between cashew- and pistachio-specific IgE levels (Spearman correlation coefficient rs = 0.95) has been previously reported, suggesting significant serologic cross-reactivity.5 Conventional IgE assays have been shown to be suboptimally specific for either cashew nut or pistachio allergy, thus leaving a "gray area" with positive results of uncertain clinical significance.5,6 The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of recombinant cashew 2S albumin Ana o 3 in the diagnosis of cashew nut allergy and to explore its relevance in the diagnosis of associated pistachio allergy. [...]in our population, 13 of 15 patients falsely labeled as allergic to cashew by detection of cashew-specific IgE would have been correctly classified by subsequent measurement of IgE levels to rAna o 3.