Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis.  2010 Dec;20(4):292-296.

A Case of Gluten Allergy in a 4-Year-Old Boy With Recurrent Urticaria

• Park HB
• Choi BS
• Kim MN
• Hong JY
• Lee KE
• Lee YJ
• Beak JY
• Kim KW
• Sohn MH
• Kim KE

Abstract

Wheat is the most widely cultivated grain and an important source of food and dietary protein. Wheat proteins are classified based on extraction in different solvents, which are albumin, globulin, prolamin (gliadin) and glutenin. The term 'gluten' contains approximately equal amounts of gliadin and glutenin and is the major determinant of the properties of wheat flour conferring cohesiveness and viscoelasticity that allows its dough to be processed into many kinds of food. Gluten is known to be responsible for triggering celiac disease and wheat allergy. Wheat allergy is primarily an IgE-mediated response. Clinical manifestations of wheat allergy are similar to those of other food allergies, with symptoms on the skin, gut and respiratory tract. Recent studies have shown that IgE to gliadin can be an indicator for risk of severe immediate reaction-like anaphylaxis and wheat-dependent, exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). However, current in vitro test reagents for the diagnosis of wheat allergy mainly contain water-soluble wheat protein and a small amount of gluten, so there are some limitations to diagnose gluten allergy. Furthermore, there is no acceptable method to measure gluten in food products for preparing effective gluten-free diet. To overcome these limitations and to improve quality of life of wheat allergy sufferers, more work is needed. We report a case of a 4-year-old boy with gluten allergy who presented with urticaria after ingestion kneaded wheat flour with a brief review of the literature.

Keyword

Wheat allergy; Gluten allergy; Gluten; Gliadin

MeSH Terms

Anaphylaxis
Celiac Disease
Edible Grain
Diet, Gluten-Free
Dietary Proteins
Eating
Flour
Food Hypersensitivity
Gliadin
Glutens
Hypersensitivity
Immunoglobulin E
Indicators and Reagents
Preschool Child
Proteins
Quality of Life
Respiratory System
Skin
Solvents
Triticum
Urticaria
Wheat Hypersensitivity
Dietary Proteins
Gliadin
Glutens
Immunoglobulin E
Indicators and Reagents
Proteins
Solvents