A systematic review of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome from the last 40 years.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a complete, exhaustive summary of current literature relevant to food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES). DATA SOURCES: Data have been extracted from PubMed and Science Direct databases. STUDY SELECTIONS: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines, a literature search for peer-reviewed journal articles in English through January 1975 with updates through October 2016 was conducted. Relevant publications were reviewed that included pediatric and adult populations. Information on the study design, sample, intervention, comparators, outcome, timeframe, and risk of bias were abstracted for each article. RESULTS: Of 135 reviewed reports, 52 were included in this systematic review. In accordance with the age at onset, clinical features, and offending foods, it is possible to distiguish different types of FPIES. An immune systemic involvement can occur in patients with FPIES. In addition to the most common causative foods (cow's milk, soy, and rice), any food can potentially cause FPIES. Although specific diagnostic tests are not available, open food challenge remains the gold standard for FPIES diagnosis. Moreover, because of the lack of randomized clinical trials and of use of different adopted methods, confounding factors might mask critical findings, leading to poor knowledge of this pleiotropic clinical entity. CONCLUSION: Multicenter studies are needed to better develop an evidence-based approach to pathophysiology, prevalence, diagnosis, and natural history of the disease.

Prevalence of self-reported food allergy in U.S. adults: 2001, 2006, and 2010.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic evidence indicates that food allergies are increasing in the population. Information on a change in self-reported food allergy (srFA) in adults over time is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence of srFA and compare differences at three time points over a decade. METHODS: We analyzed srFA and reported physician-diagnosed food allergy in >4000 U.S. adults who participated in the 2010 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Survey. Information on causative food(s), reaction severity characteristics, and various diagnostic factors was also analyzed. We compared 2010 Food Safety Survey data with 2006 and 2001 data, and highlighted relevant differences. RESULTS: SrFA prevalence increased significantly, to 13% in 2010 and 14.9% in 2006 compared with 9.1% in 2001 (p < 0.001). Physician diagnosed food allergy was 6.5% in 2010, which was not significantly different compared with 7.6% in 2006 and 5.3% in 2001. SrFA increased in both men and women, non-Hispanic white and black adults, 50-59 year olds, and in adults with a high school or lower education. In 2010, milk, shellfish, and fruits were the most commonly reported food allergens, similar to 2001. Also, in 2010, 15% of reactions reportedly required a hospital visit and 8.4% were treated with epinephrine. Minor differences in reaction severity characteristics were noted among the surveys. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of survey results indicates that the prevalence of srFA increased among U.S. adults from 2001 to 2010 and that adults are increasingly self-reporting FAs without obtaining medical diagnosis. Improved education about food allergies is needed for this risk group.

Historical background, definitions and differential diagnosis.

Although awareness that food can cause adverse symptoms and even death in some individuals has been present since the times of Hippocrates, it was not until the seminal experiment of Prausnitz that the investigation of food allergy had a more scientific basis. In the first half of the 20th century, there were periodic reports in the medical literature describing various food allergic reactions. Until the studies of Charles May and colleagues in the mid- to late '70s, there was a great deal of skepticism in the medical world about the relevance of food allergy and how to diagnose it, since standard skin testing was known to correlate poorly with clinical symptoms. With the introduction of the double-blind, placebo-controlled oral food challenge by May, the study of food allergy has become evidence based, and tremendous strides have been made in the study of basic immunopathogenic mechanisms and natural history as well as in the diagnosis and management of food allergies. Today, various IgE- and non-IgE-mediated food allergic disorders have been well characterized, and efforts to reverse these allergies using various immunotherapeutic strategies are well under way.

History of allergy in antiquity.

Allergic diseases are not new. They have been described in the early medical literature in various cultures like Egypt, China, indigenous America and in the Greco-Roman tradition. The terms 'idiosyncrasy', 'asthma' and 'eczema' are still in use today. The most famous allergic individual of antiquity with the whole triad of atopic diseases and a positive family history of atopy probably was Emperor Octavianus Augustus.

History of food allergy.

In this chapter we will first consider whether there is real evidence on the basis of literature for early descriptions in antiquity of pathogenic reactions after food intake that could be comparable to allergy, for instance in the scriptures of Hippocrates or Lucretius. On this topic we are skeptical, which is in agreement with the medical historian Hans Schadewaldt. We also assert that it is unlikely that King Richard III was the first food-allergic individual in medical literature. Most probably it was not a well-planned poisoning ('allergy') with strawberries, but rather a birth defect ('… his harm was ever such since his birth') that allowed the Lord Protector to bring Mylord of Ely to the scaffold in the Tower, as we can read in The History of King Richard III by Thomas More (1478-1535; published by his son-in-law, Rastell, in 1557). In 1912, the American pediatrician Oscar Menderson Schloss (1882-1952) was probably the first to describe scratch tests in the diagnosis of food allergy. Milestones in the practical diagnosis of food allergy are further discussed, including scratch tests, intradermal tests, modified prick tests and prick-to-prick tests. False-negative results can be attributed to the phenomenon of a 'catamnestic reaction' according to Max Werner (1911-1987), or to the fermentative degradation of food products. Prior to the discovery of immunoglobulin E, which marked a turning point in allergy diagnosis, and the introduction of the radioallergosorbent test in 1967, several more or less reliable techniques were used in the diagnosis of food allergy, such as pulse rate increase after food intake according to Coca, the leukopenic index, drop in basophils or drastic platelet decrease. The 'leukocytotoxic test' (Bryan's test), today called the 'ALCAT' test, shows no scientific evidence. The double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge test remains the gold standard in the diagnosis of food allergy. For the future, component-resolved diagnostics with the use of recombinant molecular allergens or chip arrays, such as the ISAC technique, hold a lot of promise. With regard to the clinical situation, a subjective selection is given, touching on the pollen-associated food allergies ('birch-mugwort-celery-spice syndrome'), as well as the new phenomenon of lethal food allergies that have appeared since the 1980s. Finally, rare ways of elicitation of a 'derivative allergy', first described by Erich Fuchs (1921-2008), for example by kissing, as well as 'oral allergy syndrome' and oral hyposensitization are considered.

History and classification of anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis as the maximal variant of an acute systemic hypersensitivity reaction can involve several organ systems, particularly the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and the cardiovascular system. The severity of anaphylactic reaction is variable and can be classified into severity grades I-IV. Some reactions are fatal. Most frequent elicitors of anaphylaxis are foods in childhood, later insect stings and drugs. The phenomenon itself has been described in ancient medical literature, but was actually recognized and named at the beginning of the 20th century by Charles Richet and Paul Portier. In the course of experiments starting on the yacht of the Prince of Monaco and continued in the laboratory in Paris, they tried to immunize dogs with extracts of Physalia species in an attempt to develop an antitoxin to the venom of the Portuguese man-of-war. While Charles Richet believed that anaphylaxis was a 'lack of protection', it has become clear that an exaggerated immune reaction, especially involving immunoglobulin E antibodies, is the underlying pathomechanism in allergic anaphylaxis besides immune complex reactions. Non-immunologically mediated reactions leading to similar clinical symptomatology have been called 'anaphylactoid' or 'pseudo-allergic'--especially by Paul Kallos--and are now called 'non-immune anaphylaxis' according to a consensus of the World Allergy Organization (WAO). The distinction of different pathophysiological processes is important since non-immune anaphylaxis cannot be detected by skin test or in vitro allergy diagnostic procedures. History and provocation tests are crucial. The intensity of the reaction is not only influenced by the degree of sensitization but also by concomitant other factors as age, simultaneous exposure to other allergens, underlying infection, physical exercise or psychological stress or concomitant medication (e.g. beta-blockers, NSAIDs); this phenomenon has been called augmentation or summation anaphylaxis.

Latex allergy: historical perspective.

The widespread use of powdered latex gloves, following the institution of universal precautions in 1987, increased the occurrence of a host of adverse reactions to natural rubber latex (NRL). Although the most common reactions are irritant or allergic dermatitis reactions to manufacturing chemicals, a spectrum of type I IgE-mediated reactions to NRL proteins are of great concern. IgE-mediated reactions range from contact urticaria to occupational asthma and anaphylaxis, resulting in significant morbidity and potential mortality. At-risk populations include highly exposed groups like health care workers and certain patient groups requiring extensive medical treatment. A significant complicating factor is the association with clinically significant adverse reactions to certain foods because of allergen cross-reactivity. Institution of policies to use only low-protein, powder-free gloves, has resulted in a dramatic reduction of visits to occupational health departments and workmen's compensation claims due to occupational asthma.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

The goal to create a standardized diagnostic classification scheme of food-related gastrointestinal hypersensitivity disease syndromes included the diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis. This article reviews the history of this diagnosis and the current concepts of this complex disorder. The common symptoms from the literature are discussed. Because no standards for this diagnosis exist, the wide variety of diagnostic criteria from the literature are presented. No consistent immunologic abnormalities have been associated with the diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis in the literature. A review of the current immunologic concepts associated with the diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis is presented. The history of this disorder, which spans more than 6 decades is also discussed. The contributions made by the original authors during this period are presented. Attention was directed to the variety of clinical features associated with this disorder, but particular attention was paid to the evolution of the pathophysiologic mechanisms proposed. Some of the difficulties associated with the prospective study of patients with eosinophilic gastroenteritis are also discussed. The establishment of appropriate control populations, as well as the fundamental difficulties encountered with the establishment of the certainty of the link between abnormal immunohistochemical findings, and initial clinical symptoms are presented and discussed. A new classification system is proposed for food-related gastrointestinal hypersensitivity disease syndromes. Age, symptoms, and the region of the gastrointestinal tract involved were the variables that were considered most important by consensus opinion. Finally, recommendations to refocus our collective investigative efforts are presented.

When food is the villian

Adverse effects reactions can be experienced by anyone, but a few are particularly sensitive to some foods. There are two main types of food sensitivities. True food allergy occurs when the reaction is due to an immune response while the others are due to various types of non-allergic food sensitivities

Multiple chemical sensitivity: pseudodisease in historical perspective.

Multiple chemical sensitivity as a "disease" has emerged as a descendant of food allergy, which, in the 1920s and 1930s, was considered to be responsible for much human suffering and symptoms of disease. After the onmarch of the clinical ecological movement in the 1950s, interest has been focused on the environment, and concern about food allergies and chemical sensitivity has reached epidemic proportions. "Active hazardous waste sites" and "workers exposed to toxic chemicals" are at the top of the list of public worries. The public believes manufactured chemicals to be more dangerous than natural ones, although toxicologists regard the risks as equal. Originally, symptoms of patients were explained as "allergies", but since the 1960s the concept of "chemical sensitivities" has become a big-time diagnosis. The ideas of the clinical ecologists diffused rapidly into the community aided by public media. Today organizations like "Chemical Victims" and "National Foundation for the Chemically Hypersensitive" have thousands of members. Although the diagnosis of the disease is very vague, suffering patients believe that the clinical ecologists can offer them something that traditional medicine cannot: sympathy, recognition of pain and suffering, a physical explanation for their suffering, and active participation in medical care. Ecologic medicine thus soared in the patients' esteem, not just because of the content of the objective diagnoses that ecologic practitioners were able to supply, but because of the subjective nature of the doctor-patient relationship they were able to offer.

[History of "L" as in latex]. / Histoire d'L comme latex.

After an anecdotal study of allergy in latex collectors, the author raises the problem of food allergy to latex, in particular in those populations that are historically hypersensitive to the mites that they ingest.