Rhinitis induced to mace

Results Skin prick test to mace and ginger (10%) were positive and specific IgE to Pru p3 and mace were detected. Double-blind, placebocontrolled, oral food challenge (DBPCFC) with this spice showed rhinitis in few minutes and was negative to ginger. Through electrophoresis of peach, Pru p3, mace and ginger extracts were identified and the corresponding proteins purified and characterized as allergens. Mace extract was recognized by both anti-Pru p3 and antiTLPs antibodies, however immunoblotting study with patient sample demostrated proteins bands immunodetection in this extract with similar molecular weight to peach thaumatins. Finally skin prick tests with these purified allergens (Pru p 2.1 y 2.2) were positive. Conclusion Thaumatin-like proteins are a new family of pollen and fruit allergens. Because of the sequence homologies between PR-5 proteins and thaumatin, an intensely sweet tasting protein isolated from the fruits of the West African rain forest shrub Thaumatococcus daniellii, these molecules are referred to as thaumatin-like proteins (TLP’s). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the implication of TLPÂ ́s in spice allergy. Unfortunately, information on fundamental aspects of the TLP family remains quite limited, this means that challenging fundamental and applied studies need to be conducted to characterize TLP’s significance and clinical involvement.