Abstract

PITE, Helena et al. Allergy to persimmon. Rev Port Imunoalergologia [online]. 2012, vol.20, n.3, pp.221-225. ISSN 0871-9721.

Persimmon allergy is rare. The involved allergens have not been identified, yet. We describe a case of a 24-year-old woman, with allergic rhinitis, sensitized to house dust mites and grass pollen. The patient reports two episodes of lip pruritus and oedema, followed by dizziness, abdominal pain and persistent vomiting, immediately after eating raw persimmon, a fruit she used to tolerate. The prick-prick test with raw persimmon was positive as well as the specific IgE to this fruit’s extract. The immunoblotting with persimmon extract showed a band of 40 kDa. Persimmon allergy may be severe. Our results support the diagnosis of IgE -mediated anaphylaxis to persimmon. The 40 kDa protein may be a major persimmon allergen, since IgE -binding bands with similar molecular weights had also been identified by immunoblotting in five out of a total of eight documented persimmon allergy published case reports

Keywords : Allergen; anaphylaxis; immunoblotting; persimmon.

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