Gum Arabic as a Cause of Occupational Allergy

Table 2

The characteristics of four candy factory workers with occupational asthma due to gum arabic.

	Patient 1; 36 year-old woman	Patient 2; 54 year-old woman	Patient 3; 43 year-old woman	Patient 4; 52 year old woman
Duration of current work/duration of symptoms (years)	15/1.5	10/6	13/3	21/10
Sensitization to common allergens^1	No	no	no	no
S-IgE (kU/l)^2	78	39	104	338
SPT to gum arabic (mm)^3	4	3	5	3
S-IgE to gum arabic (kU/l)	4.4	0.60	4.5	5.6
FEV1 liters (% of reference )	2.0 (64%)	2.5 (81%)	2.6 (86%)	2.3 (77%)
Compatibility of PEF records in working and free days to occupational asthma^4	not compatible	suggestive	compatible	compatible
Exhaled NO (ppb)	43	21	20	19
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in histamine challenge^5	no	mild	mild	moderate
Bronchial challenge test with gum arabic	positive	positive	not done	positive

¹Tree, grass and mugwort pollens, cat, dog and horse epithelium, house dust mite, molds, ²Serum total immunoglobulin E level, ³SPT = skin prick test, ⁴PEF = peak expiratory flow, ⁵strong hyperresponsiveness: histamine PD15 <0.1 mg, moderate hyperresponsiveness: histamine PD15 0.11–0.4 mg, mild hyperresponsiveness: histamine PD15 = 0.41–1.60 mg, no hyperresponsiveness: histamine PD15 >1.60 mg.