Role of new allergens and of allergens consumption in the increased incidence of food sensitizations in France.
Food allergy is a group of distinct clinico-pathological entities that have an immunological basis in common, and in which an abnormal or exaggerated immunological response to a specific food leads to disease. Some clinical pictures involving multiple organ system (anaphylaxis) are potentially fatal. The data on the incidence, prevalence, mortality rate and food products involved in food-induced anaphylaxis and the evolution of food sensitization compared with changes in eating habits are not very reliable. In the present study we analysed, over a period of 9 years (1984-1992), a group of 580 patients with pathological reactions to foods, 60 of which presented severe, near-fatal reactions. We sought the etiologic components and food sensitization in comparison with the principal tendencies of food consumption in France. Food products most frequently incriminated in anaphylactic reactions are not of a primary nutritional importance: celery (30%), crustaceans (17%), fish (13%), peanuts (12%), mango (6%), mustard (3%), but they are often hidden allergens in commercial foods. The sensitization to food products in the group of 580 patients reveals, in decreasing order of frequency: wheat (39%), peanuts (37%), crab (34%), celery (30%), soy (30%). Compared with previous data, the frequency of sensitization to different foods has changed; for instance, the sensitizations to wheat, soy, peanuts, celery, mustard, rice, are definitely increasing. The increased consumption and more attentive clinical research may be the reasons for this evolution. For products such as egg and pork, the data are stable and parallel with consumption, whilst for other products like milk and other dairy products, the increased consumption is accompanied by a decrease of the incidence of sensitization. The reactivity to some allergens may be affected by the way of preparing the food.
Laboratoire d'Immunopathologie Digestive, INSERM, Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Pierre Bénite, France.
F
F
André
C
C
André
L
L
Colin
F
F
Cacaraci
S
S
Cavagna
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000485:Allergens / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000485:Allergens