Korean J Med.  2004 Sep;67(3):297-301.

A case of latex fruit syndrome caused by spinach and eggplant

• Lee J
• Cho YS
• Kim YY
• Koh SJ
• Lee TH
• Moon HB

Abstract

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a widely consumed vegetable, but rarely causes allergic reactions. Spinach contains plenty of histamine derivatives, so it is sometimes difficult to distinguish food allergy from pharmacologic effect of histamine itself in susceptible individuals. Latex exhibits strong cross reactivity with proteins from different fruits, vegetables, and grains, which is called as latex fruit syndrome. A 27 year old female visited emergency room with hives, facial swelling, dyspnea and palpitation immediately after meal. She had been suffering from latex allergy and had experienced an episode of anaphylaxis after eating eggplant 5 months earlier. Skin prick test with spinach extract was positive. Specific IgE to spinach antigens was detected by ELISA. ELISA inhibition test revealed that there is cross reactivity between latex and spinach. Two IgE binding components were detected between 22kD and 36kD, and another two between 16kD and 22kD on IgE-immunoblot analysis.

Keyword

Anaphylaxis; Eggplant; Food allergy; Latex fruit syndrome; Spinach

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anaphylaxis
Edible Grain
Dyspnea
Eating
Emergency Service, Hospital
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Female
Food Hypersensitivity
Fruit*
Histamine
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Immunoglobulin E
Latex Hypersensitivity
Latex*
Meals
Skin
Solanum melongena*
Spinacia oleracea*
Urticaria
Vegetables
Histamine
Immunoglobulin E
Latex