Allergy.  1994 Sep;14(3):311-317.

The Prevalence of Sensitivity to Sulfiting Agents in Patients with Bronchial Asthma

Abstract

Sulfiting agents, including sulfur dioxide and several forms of inorganic sulfites may be added to many foods and medicines as antioxidants and preservatives. Ingestion of sulfiting agents have been reported to cause anaphylaxis, asthma, urticaria/angioedema, seizure, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and death. However, the prevalence of sulfire sensitivity in asthmatic patients are not known in Korea. To determine the incidence of sulfite sensitivity in asthmatic subjects, 9 non-steroid-dependent and 22 steroid-dependent asthmatic patients underwent sulfite oral challenge tests in a prospective single-blind manner. The results were as follows: 1) Five of the 31 patients (16.1%) experiened decrease of FEV1 by more than 20% after ingestion of sodium metabisulfite. And all of them were steroid-dependent asthmatic patients. 2) Among the 5 patients who showed positive response, one experienced anaphylaxis and two had histories suggesting sulfite sensitivity 3) Only one patient showed positive skin response to the 10 mg/ml sodium metabisulfite. The incidence of sulfite sensitivity in asthmatic patients was 16.1% and it was higher in the steroid-dependent asthmatic patients.


MeSH Terms

Abdominal Pain
Anaphylaxis
Antioxidants
Asthma*
Diarrhea
Eating
Humans
Incidence
Korea
Nausea
Prevalence*
Seizures
Skin
Sodium
Sulfites
Sulfur Dioxide
Antioxidants
Sodium
Sulfites
Sulfur Dioxide
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