LATEX FOOD SYNDROME
Key Allergens
Latex Food Syndrome is also sometimes known as Latex Fruit Syndrome. When a person becomes sensitised to the allergens in latex they may also become sensitised to certain foods which contain similarly shaped proteins.
There are 15 allergens associated with allergy to latex plants. The most likely proteins associated with Latex Food Syndrome are Hev b 6 which is a hevein and Hev b 11 which is a chitinase.
Chitinase is the protein thought to cause most instances of Latex Food Syndrome.
Hevein is a related protein and may also have some role in the Latex Food Syndrome.
Cross Reactivity
Those with a sensitivity to chitinase may have linked allergies to foods which contain high levels of chitinase like avocado, banana, chestnuts, corn (maize), kiwi, papaya, pomegranate and tomatoes.
Chitinase allergens can also affect the airways and can be found in coffee, cockroaches and dust mites.
Hevein proteins are found in rubber trees (as a contact allergen) and in turnip (as a food allergen).
Resources
Websites
DermNet NZ - Latex Allergy
Allergen Encyclopedia - Latex Allergy
Allergy Asthma Network - Latex Allergy
Latex-Fruit Syndrome and Class 2 Food Allergy
Articles and Journals
Jackfruit Anaphylaxis in a Latex Allergic Non-Healthcare Worker, 2021
Natural rubber latex allergy, 2021
Symptoms and awareness of latex allergy among healthcare workers, 2020
Latex-fruit syndrome in Italian children and adolescents with natural rubber latex allergy, 2013
Diagnosis of latex allergy: the importance of hev B 11, 2012
Latex-allergic patients sensitized to the major allergen hevein and hevein-like domains of class I chitinases show no increased frequency of latex-associated plant food allergy, 2011
Cross-reactivity between Ficus benjamina latex and fig fruit in patients with clinical fig allergy, 2003
In vivo sensitization to purified Hevea brasiliensis proteins in health care workers sensitized to natural rubber latex, 2003
Allergens and natural rubber proteins, 2002
Class I chitinases as potential panallergens involved in the latex-fruit syndrome, 1999
Hevein-like protein domains as a possible cause for allergen cross-reactivity between latex and banana, 1998
Latex allergy: clinical features and cross-reactivity with fruits, 1994
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