Is it possible to be allergic to cherries

A great variety of different fruits have been reported as causing allergic reactions, however, the most prevalent and best described are reactions to apple, peach and kiwi fruit.

Since fruits often contain allergens from different classes of food allergens, fruit allergic individuals may display different reactions to the same fruit. Fruit allergy is frequently observed as local reactions in the oral cavity oral allergy syndrome. These can occur only minutes after consumption of the respective food and itching and swelling of the mouth, lips and throat are commonly observed.

Often mild, these symptoms can be accompanied by skin reactions, asthma and rhinitis. Severe reactions such as cardiovascular symptoms and anaphylaxis can also be experienced by some individuals. Allergic reactions to apple may be manifested in two different forms depending on the apple allergen involved. I have told her to avoid fruits for now. What else can I do to help her? Thank you for your advice. Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, as you know, the only true treatment of food allergy as described in your patient is avoidance of the foods in question.

On the basis of your description, therefore, I believe it will be necessary for her to avoid all three of the foods to which she reacted. I do not think there is any other safe option for her unless you wish to test the validity of these reactions by doing an oral challenge. Based upon the history, however, at least in my opinion, the events were highly likely to have been due to the cherries, strawberries, and grapes ingested prior to the respective episodes.

Therefore the only question is whether she is at risk of responding to cross-reactive, related foods. This cannot be answered definitively without oral challenges, and therefore the best we can do is simply look at what is known about cross-reactivity regarding these foods based upon published literature.

I will do my best to summarize this knowledge for you, but once again, the only definitive way to conclude whether or not your patient will react to cross-reacting foods is via an ingestion challenge. Nonetheless, we will look at each food independently and try to give you some perspective regarding potential cross-reactivities. Cherries are members of the Rosaceae family. Several cherry allergens have been isolated. They are Pru av 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Pru 1 is a Bet v 1-homologue. Pru 2 is a thaumatin-like protein. Pru 3 is a lipid-transfer protein. And Pru 4 is a profilin. Cherry is a food which may result in allergy symptoms in sensitised individuals. Cherry Allergy Test: Allergen Description A number of allergens present in cherry have been characterised, including a lipid transfer protein, a thaumatin like protein and profilin.

LTP is found mainly in the peel, and chemical peeling has been shown to remove it successfully. Cherry Allergy Test: Potential Cross-Reactivity Extensive cross-reactivity among the different individual species of the Rosaceae family could be expected. Cherry Allergy Test: Clinical Experience Cherry may commonly induce symptoms of food allergy in sensitised individuals. Add to basket Details. These individuals develop adverse reactions to cherry because of the similarity between the allergens in peach and cherry.

Symptoms are more severe including generalised urticaria, abdominal pain, vomiting and life-threatening symptoms, sometimes in addition to the OAS. The allergen that causes this kind of allergy is tough and the allergenicity survives in processed foods such as jams and juices. As a result, individuals with this kind of allergy cannot eat even cooked fruit. They also tend to develop adverse reactions to other fruits including apple, peach, apricot, plum, and nuts such as hazelnut and walnut.

Several studies have reported symptoms of cherry allergy. They include oral allergy syndrome OAS with mild itching of the lips, tongue or throat in patients with reported allergy to cherry and a positive IgE CAP to birch pollen Scheurer et al.

Other symtoms less frequents are urticaria, angioedema, severe dyspnea, cough, and gastrointestinal symptoms accompanied by severe pain after cherry consumption. Ballmer-Weber et al. Purified allergens recombinant r Pru av 1; rPru av 4; and lipid transfer protein: rPru av 3 , commercial cherry extacts and home-made extracts as follows. The filter residue was lyophilized. The suspension was centrifuged for 45 minutes at 20, g , and the supernatant was filtered through a fiber glass prefilter Ballmer-Weber et al.

Pastorello et al. A wheal size of 7 mm 2 or greater was regarded as positive. Cherry extract and recombinant cherry Pru av 1. The suspension was centrifuged for 45 minutes at 20, g , and the supernatant was filtered through a fiber glass prefilter Scheurer et al. Cherry extract prepared as for Scheurer et al. For all the patients the maximal histamine release was at a concentration of 0.

Samples were boiled and reduced with beta-mercaptoethanol Pastorello et al. Proteins from cherry extract were separated by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis SDS-PAGE under nonreducing conditions. Purified recombinant profilins were separated under non-reducing conditions Scheurer et al. Recombinant Pru av 4 was reduced with 1,4-dithiothreitol and rPru av 1 and rPru av 3 were applied under nonreducing conditions Ballmer-Weber, et al The proteins were electroblotted to a nitrocellulose membrane, pore size 0.

The membrane was blocked with phosphate-buffered saline pH 7. Separated proteins were electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membrane pore size 0. Protein was electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membrane pore size 0.

The membrane was incubated with the sera diluted The proteins were transferred onto 0. The nitrocellulose membrane was blocked and incubated with patient sera.