Clinical differences in peanut allergy around the world

Peanut allergy appears to have different clinical and immunological patterns in different parts of the world according to a recently-published study conducted on patients in Spain, Sweden and the U.S.A. The researchers looked at the symptoms, blood antibodies to peanut, sensitivities to several different peanut proteins, and sensitivities to a panel of grass and tree pollens in a total of115 peanut-allergic patients.

Thirty patients from New York participated in the study and were found to frequently have IgE antibodies to rAra h 1-3, with their allergy symptoms often severe. Results from 50 participants from Madrid indicated this population reacted less often to those 3 components of peanut protein and more to rAra h 9. They also seemed to develop allergy to peanut after experiencing an allergy to other plant-derived foods. Thirty-five patients from Stockholm were recruited to the study. This group appeared to react to the rAra h 1-3 peanut proteins more frequently than the Spanish and had the strongest reaction to a cross-reactive peanut allergen rBet v 1 and to birch pollen.

Interestingly, American children showed the allergy around age 1 while the Spanish and Swedish patients became allergic to peanut at age 2 or later. The authors suggest the difference in the age of peanut allergy onset may be due to factors such as the amount of peanut exposure, and cited that American children eat peanut products from early childhood. Almost two thirds of all the study participants had allergies to pollen and symptoms of hayfever.

Reference: Vereda A et al.2010. Journal of Clinical Allergy and Immunology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2010.09.010.