title: Allergens in pepper and paprika. Immunologic investigation of the celery-birch-mugwort-spice syndrome.
abstract: Mugwort and birch pollen allergy are frequently associated with IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to celery and spices. We analyzed 22 sera from patients with the mugwort-birch-celery-spice syndrome for IgE binding to the spices pepper and paprika by immunoblotting. Immunoblot results revealed two major allergens of 28 and 60 kDa in pepper and a 23-kDa allergen together with allergens of higher molecular weight in paprika. In immunoblot-inhibition studies, crude mugwort, birch pollen, and celery extracts significantly reduced the IgE binding to pepper and paprika allergens. However, no inhibition was achieved with rBet v 1 and rBet v 2, suggesting that no homologs of these birch proteins act as allergens in pepper or paprika extracts. N-terminal sequence analysis of the 14- and 28-kDa pepper and 23-kDa paprika allergens revealed no homology to known allergens. The 28-kDa pepper allergen showed homology to a wheat germin protein, and the 23-kDa paprika allergen was identified as a homolog of a osmotin-like or pathogenesis-related protein in tomato. Therefore, we conclude that the IgE cross-reactivity in the mugwort-birch-celery-spice syndrome to the spices pepper and paprika is not caused by homologs of Bet v 1 and profilin. N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of the main allergens in pepper and paprika indicate a relation to frequently occurring plant proteins.
authors.affiliation: Institute of General and Experimental Pathology, University Hospital AKH, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leitner
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jensen-Jarolim
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grimm
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wüthrich
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Scheiner
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ebner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D019661:Apiaceae / Q000276:immunology; D019306:Artemisia / Q000276:immunology; D002212:Capsicum / Q000276:immunology; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011852:Radioallergosorbent Test; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D017365:Spices
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D000596:Amino Acids; D011506:Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E