Antigen-specific sulphidoleukotriene production in patients with allergy to latex

IgE-mediated reactions to latex are frequent (2.8 - 10.7%) among health care population working with clinical equipment. Cross-reactivity of this allergen with some kind of fruits (banana, chestnut, kiwi, etc.) has been proven. In this work, the antigen-specific in vitro sulphidoleukotriene release in patients with allergy to latex is studied. Ten patients with allergy to latex were selected. Eight pollen allergic patients were included as atopic controls, and 12 subjects with no pathology as healthy controls. We used two latex extracts, one prepared in our laboratory (by means of PBS extraction) and another one supplied by Ifidesa-Aristegui (Bilbao, Spain). We found no significant differences between both extracts regarding their behaviour in skin tests (intradermal and prick), and antigen-dependent sulphidoleukotriene (sLT) production (CAST). The group of patients with allergy to latex showed an antigen-specific sulphidoleukotriene production significantly higher than the healthy controls (p < 0.0001) and pollen- allergic controls (p < 0.0001). The differences observed regarding antigen- specific histamine release between patients and both control groups were also significant (p < 0.0001). Moreover, significant differences were also found in antigen-specific sLT production and antigen-specific histamine release between the group of healthy controls and the group of pollen allergic controls (p < 0.05). A positive and significant correlation was observed (r = 0.84, p < 0.001) between antigen-specific sLT production and antigen-specific histamine release. A positive and significant correlation was also found between sLT production and intradermal test (r = 0.41, p < 0.05), between sLT production and prick test (r = 0.59, p < 0.001), and between sLT production and prick-prick test (r = 0.76, p < 0.001). Through the results obtained, we consider that antigen-specific sLT determination is a useful technique for the diagnosis of allergy to latex.