Country / Subjects | Sensitivity to | References |
Australia, Melbourne
620 children at risk of atopy |
egg 3.2% (SPT) | Hill et al. 1999 |
Australia, Victoria
100 cow's milk allergic children |
egg 58% (parent reported adverse reactions) | Bishop et al. 1990 |
Denmark, Odense
39 cow's milk allergic infants |
egg white 29% (adverse reactions) | Host & Halken 1990 |
Estonia
251 allergic infants |
egg white 3.6% (RAST) | Julge et al. 1997 |
Finland, Oulu
57, 43, and 42 children with atopic dermatits |
egg 64%, 16%, and 14% in patients < 1 year, 1-3 years, and 3-15 years of age (SPT) | Hannuksela 1987 |
France
81 cases of anaphylactic shock to food |
egg 11.6% | Moneret-Vautrin & Kanny 1995 |
France
80 cases of food- related anaphylaxis (from 1993-97) |
egg 8.8% (reported to CICBAA databank) | European Commission 1998 |
France, Pierre Benite
a) 580 patients with adverse reactions to food b) 60 cases of anaphylaxis (study period 1984-92) |
a) egg 23%
b) egg 1.7% |
Andre et al. 1994 |
France, Toulouse
142 food allergic children |
egg white 53 % (Labial food challenge) | Rance & Dutau 1997 |
Germany
790 children (general population) |
egg 8.4% (RAST) | Nickel et al. 1997 |
Germany
216 children (general population) estimation based on 4082 children |
egg 6% to 4% (at 1 to 6 years of age) (RAST) | Kulig et al. 1999 |
Germany
1235 unselected preschool children (5-6 years) |
egg 2.8% (SPT) | Schafer et al. 1999 |
Italy
134 patients with atopic dermatitis |
egg 28% (RAST) | Bonifazi et al. 1978 |
Italy, Florence
54 episodes of food-dependent anaphylaxis in 44 children (age of 1 month to 16 years) (from 1994-1996) |
egg 11% | Novembre et al. 1998 |
Italy, Rome
371 children with food allergy |
egg 46% (RAST) | Giampietro et al. 1992 |
Iceland, Reykjavik
502 unselected adults |
egg 0.4% (RAST) | Gislason et al. 1999 |
Japan, Kyoto
55 infants with atopic dermatitis |
egg white 91% (SPT) | Kusunoki et al. 1998 |
Japan, Okinawa
127 atopic patients |
egg white 12% (MAST) | Kosugi et al. 1992 |
Netherlands
131 cases of food- induced anaphylaxis (from 1993-1997) |
egg 7.6% (survey, reported to the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute) | European Commission 1998 |
Netherlands, Rotterdam
91 patients with atopic dermatitis |
egg 72% (SAFT) | Oranje et al. 1992 |
Spain, Madrid
355 food allergic children |
egg white 34% (SPT, RAST) | Crespo et al. 1995 |
Spain, Pamplona
74 patients with atopic dermatitis |
egg 35% (SPT, RAST, Histamine Release) | Resano et al. 1998 |
Sweden
a) 61 cases and b) 55 cases of food- induced anaphylaxis (from 1994-1996) |
a) egg 10% (reported to the National Food Administration)
b) egg 3.6% (Hospital Reports) |
European Commission 1998 |
Sweden, Uppsala
414 unselected adults |
egg 0.2% (RAST) | Gislason et al. 1999 |
Switzerland, Zurich
402 food allergic adults |
egg white 12% (case history, SPT, RAST) | Wüthrich 1993 |
Switzerland, Zurich
383 food allergic patients (study period 1990-94) |
egg 5.7% (case history, SPT, RAST) | Etesamifar & Wüthrich 1998 |
Thailand
100 asthmatic children |
egg white 1% (SPT) | Kongpanichkul et al. 1997 |
UK, London
100 patients with food intolerance |
egg 40% (repeated challenge) | Lessof et al. 1980 |
UK, Manchester
172 patients expierenced anaphylactic reactions to foods (from 1994-1996) |
egg 2.3% (suspected cause of patients' worst reaction) | Pumphrey & Stanworth 1996 |
USA, Baltimore, MD
196 food allergic children |
egg 73% (DBPCFC, RAST) | Sampson & Ho 1997 |
USA, Denver, CO
180 food allergic children |
egg 26% (DBPCFC) | Bock & Atkins 1990 |
USA, Little Rock
165 patients with atopic dermatitis |
egg 35% (SPT), from which 33/56 were DBPCFC-positive | Burks et al. 1998 |
2 Outgrowing of Egg White Allergy
Country / Subjects | Loss of Sensitivity to | References |
Germany
Children at risk (subgroup of 216 children of the general population) |
Annual Incidence of sensitization to egg decreased from 6% at 1 year of age to <1% at 6 years of age (RAST) | Kulig et al. 1999 |
USA
Food allergic patients |
soy, egg, milk, wheat, and peanut:
26% loss (after 1 year of onset, DBPCFC) |
Sampson & Scanlon 1989 |
3 Symptoms of Egg White Allergy
Symptoms & Case Reports | References | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
systemic reactions
anaphylaxis (1, 7, 8, 9, 11), fatal reactions (7) cutaneous symptoms
gastrointestinal symptoms
respiratory symptoms
other symptoms
|
(1) Hoffmann 1983
(2) Langeland 1983a, 1983b, 1985 (3) Anet et al. 1985 (4) Clinton et al. 1986 (5) Bernstein et al. 1987 (6) Blanco-Carmona et al. 1992 (7) Sampson et al. 1992 (8) Yamada et al. 1993 (9) Bernhisel-Broadbent et al. 1994 (10) Reekers et al. 1996 (11) Urisu et al. 1997 (12) Patriarca et al. 1998 (13) Yamada et al. 1998 (14) Foucard & Malmheden Yman 1999 (15) Niggemann et al. 1999 |
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Percentage of reactions
(1), (5) after egg ingestion / oral challenge (3) children with egg allergy (without bird allergy) (6) children |
(1) Langeland 1983a
(2) Bernhisel-Broadbent et al. 1994 (3) Anibarro Bausela et al. 1997 (4) Sampson & Ho 1997 (5) Yamada et al. 1998 (6) Niggemann et al. 1999 |
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Threshold of Ingestion
Amounts of whole egg inducing symptoms ranged from 50 mg to 50 g (DBPCFC, egg allergic patients) (1) |
(1) Norgaard & Bindslev-Jensen 1992 |
4 Diagnostic Features of Hen's Egg White
Allergy
Parameters / Subjects | Outcome | References |
SPT, IgE and Oral Challenge
11 egg allergic patients (1-15 years of age) |
Sensitivities of tests in comparison with oral challenge
test:
SPT 100%, RAST 85%, MAST 71%; Specificities in comparison with oral challenge test: RAST 50%, MAST 100%; Match with oral challenge test: SPT 63%, RAST 72%, MAST 81%, Case History 63% |
Roger et al. 1994 |
SPT and DBPCFC
Children suspected of IgE-mediated symptoms to egg |
Significant differences in wheal sizes between individuals who were allergic or tolerant to egg (P<0.001) | Eigenmann & Sampson 1998 |
IgG and IgE
120 atopic children |
IgG to egg white strongly associated with positive specific IgE in children with and without eczema | Eysink et al. 1999 |
IgG Subclasses
96 children of general population (measured at birth, 6 and 18 months and 8 years by ELISA) |
Ovalbumin specific subclasses:
IgG1 and IgG3 peaked at 18 months and declined up to 8 years of age; antibody levels not related to exposure to egg; positive SPT and IgE levels correlated with high IgG subclass levels; atopic symptoms associated particularly with high levels of IgG subclass IgG4; difference in antibody levels between atopic and non- atopic children mostly marked at 6 months |
Jenmalm & Bjorksten 1999 |
a) RAST and DBPCFC
b) SPT and DBPCFC food-allergic children with atopic dermatitis |
a) predictive values of specific IgE > 0.35 kU/L
positive preditive value 84% (>95% at IgE 6 kU/L) negative preditive value 88% b) predictive values of SPT ( > 3 mm) positive preditive value 85% negative preditive value 90% |
Sampson & Ho 1997 |
IgE and DBPCFC
children with atopic dermatitis |
a) Specific serum IgE in children with
positive oral provocation: 6.4 kU/L negative oral provocation: 1.4 kU/L (Significance P<0.001) b) predictive value of specific IgE > 0.35 kU/L positive preditive value 79% negative preditive value 75% |
Niggemann et al. 1999 |
OM-digest specific IgE and DBPCFC
a) 18 children DBPCFC positive and b) 12 negative to egg white (all RAST positive) |
No significant differences in specific IgE- binding to
egg white, ovomucoid, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and lysozyme in a) and
b);
IgE binding activity to ovomucoid digests (pepsin and trypsin) significantly higher in a) than in b) |
Urisu et al. 1999 |
Predictive Value of IgE
1314 children (general population) |
Hen's egg white specific IgE at age of 12 months is a valuable marker for sensitization (asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis) to common allergens at age of 3 years | Nickel et al. 1997 |
5 Therapy of Hen's Egg White Allergy
Treatment* | Outcome | References |
Oral Desentization
5 egg allergic patients |
A diluted food extract followed by increased pure food was administered following a standardized protocol, at the beginning pretreatment with oral sodium cromoglycate, length of therapy 4 to 5 months, after therapy egg was tolerated (maintenance dose: 2-3 eggs / week) | Patriarca et al. 1998 |
Treatment with DSCG
5 egg allergic children |
Food challenge before and after a seven- day pre- treatment period with oral sodium chromoglycate: Full protection in 4 children | Businco et al. 1983 |
6 Composition of Hen's Egg White
7 Allergens of Hen's Egg White
Proteins / Glycoproteins | Allergen Nomenclature | References |
Ovomucoid [28 kDa] | Gal d 1 | Langeland T (1982b) |
Ovalbumin [44 kDa] | Gal d 2 | Langeland T (1982b) |
Ovotransferrin [77 kDa] | Gal d 3 | Langeland & Harbitz (1983) |
Lysozyme [14 kDa] | Gal d 4 | Hoffman 1983 |
Ovomucin | none | Walsh et al. 1988 |
7.1 Sensitization to Egg White Allergens
Country / Subjects | Sensitivity to | References |
Austria, Vienna
13 patients with egg white allergy |
40-45 kDa allergen 100%
35 kDa allergen 76% 70 kDa allergen 61% |
Szepfalusi et al. 1994 |
Denmark
32 adults with suspected egg allergy |
ovomucoid 34%
ovalbumin 9% ovotransferrin 22% lysozyme 6% (dot-immunoblot) |
Djurtoft et al. 1991 |
Denmark
34 egg allergic adults |
ovomucoid 38%
ovalbumin 32% ovotransferrin 53% lysozyme 15% (SDS-PAGE / immunoblot) |
Aabin et al. 1996 |
France, Nancy
52 egg allergic patients |
lysozyme 35% (RAST) | Fremont et al. 1997 |
Germany, Hamburg
33 egg allergic patients |
ovomucoid 36%
ovalbumin 30% (SDS-PAGE / immunoblot) |
Besler et al. 1997 |
Japan
39 egg allergic patients |
lysozyme 67% (RAST) | Yamada et al. 1993 |
Japan, Toyoake
72 egg allergic patients |
decreasing specific serum IgE against OM>OA>>OT>LY (RAST) | Urisu et al. 1997 |
Norway, Oslo
68 egg allergic patients |
ovomucoid 69%
ovalbumin 100% ovotransferrin 54% (CRIE) |
Langeland 1982b, 1983b |
USA, Baltimore, MD
18 egg allergic children |
ovomucoid 89%
ovalbumin 78% lysozyme 61% (skin prick test) |
Bernhisel-Broadbent et al. 1994 |
USA, Baltimore, MD
egg allergic children: a) 10 persistent allergy b) 11 developed clinical tolerance |
ovomucoid:
a) 44.5 ng/ml b) 3.5 ng/ml ovalbumin: a) 1.6 ng/ml b) 1.5 ng/ml (specific serum-IgE) |
Bernhisel-Broadbent et al. 1994 |
USA, NC
33 egg allergic patients |
ovomucoid 97%
ovalbumin 100% ovotransferrin 94% lysozyme 69% (RAST) |
Hoffmann 1983 |
7.2 Properties of Ovomucoid
7.3 Properties of Ovalbumin
7.4 Properties of Ovotransferrin
7.5 Properties of Lysozyme
Extract / Purified Allergens | Methods | References |
ovomucoid, ovalbumin, lysozyme | IEC-HPLC | Bernhisel-Broadbent et al. 1994 |
ovomucoid, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, lysozyme | IEC / SEC | Awade et al. 1994
Ebbehoj et al. 1995 |
ovomucoid, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, lysozyme | capillary electrophoresis | Besler et al. 1998 |
egg white / yolk proteins | review: liquid chromatography applications | Awade 1996 |
Cross-Reacting Allergens to | Subjects / Methods | References |
Egg White
egg yolk, chicken serum, chicken meat |
egg allergic patients (quantitative immunoelectrophoresis) | Langeland 1983c |
Egg White
egg yolk |
6 egg allergic patients (RAST inhibition) | Anet et al. 1985 |
Ovalbumin
ovomucoid, ovotransferrin, lysozyme |
6 egg allergic patients (RAST inhibition) | Walsh et al. 1987 |
Ovalbumin
apovitellenin I (egg yolk) |
4 egg allergic patients (RAST inhibition) | Walsh et al. 1987 |
Lysozyme
alpha-lactalbumin (cow's milk) |
6 egg allergic patients (RAST inhibition) | Walsh et al. 1987 |
10 Stability of Egg White Allergens
Treatment | Effects | References |
Egg White
hard-boiled (100°C, 20 min) soft-boiled (100°C, 3 min) |
some antigenicity retained,
ovalbumin and ovomucoid were detectable (RIEP) |
Hoffmann 1983 |
Egg White
diluted and heated (90°C, 10 min) |
significantly decreased RAST for 50% of 16 egg allergic patients | Anet et al. 1985 |
Egg White
9 household cleaning solutions and 5 chemical detergents mixed with egg white allergen extract, incubation for 20 min at RT |
Soft soap and sodium lauryl sulphate reduced IgE- binding to allergens; none of the detergents totally destroyed the allergenic activities, even in concentrations up to 10 times of recommended (CIE, CRIE, serum pool of >5 patients) | Dybendal et al. 1990 |
Dried Whole Egg
(1) heat (120°C, 40 min) (2) succinic anhydride, sodium hydroxide and heat |
(1) no significant decrease in antigenicity
(2) decreased antigenicity (1/1000) (ELISA/RAST inhibition, PCA) |
Hisatomi et al. 1991 |
Egg White
(1) heat (90°C, 60 min) (2) ovomucoid-depletion of heated egg white |
(1) 55% negative challenge in patients with positive
challenge to freeze-dried egg white
(2) 94% negative challenge in patients with positive challenge to heated egg white (DBPCFC) |
Urisu et al. 1997 |
Egg White
boiling (for 5 or 60 min) |
Specific IgE, IgG1 and IgG antibody responses in ovalbumin- sensitized mice suppressed by raw egg white, not suppressed by boiled egg white fed prior to sensitization; mice spleen cell proliferation and secretion of Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-5 by stimulation with ovalbumin suppressed by feeding raw egg white, but not by boiled egg white | Peng et al. 1998 |
Pork Meat Pastes
containing 2% dry egg white powder (1) raw pastes (2) pasteurized (70°C, 2 h) (3) sterilized (115°C, 90 min) |
Detection of egg white allergens by patients' sera in (1) and (2), but not in sterilized paste (3) (EAST: 3 patients, IEF-PAGE immunoblot: 2 patients) | Leduc et al. 1999 |
of ovalbumin, ovomucoid |
Reported Adverse Reactions | References |
Food
egg in hamburger roll (1) egg in meatballs containing 0.14% and 0.16% ovalbumin, in pasta containing 0.003-0.013% ovalbumin (2) lysozyme: unlabeled additive in cheese preparation (3) |
(1) Sampson et al. 1992
(2) Malmheden Yman et al. 1994 (3) Fremont et al. 1997 |
Vaccines
egg white: influenza virus vaccine (1, 4) egg white: influenza A/New Jersey/76 virus vaccines (2) ovalbumin / egg white: measles vaccine (3, 6) egg white: measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (5, 7) |
(1) Davies & Pepys 1976
(2) Bell et al. 1977 (3) Herman et al. 1983 (4) Yamane et al. 1988 (5) Levine & Lavi 1991 (6) Aickin et al. 1994 (7) Levy et al. 1994 |
Other Pharmaceuticals
lysozyme / egg white: vaginal suppository (1) |
(1) Pichler & Campi 1993 |
Allergens in Food Products | Content / Products | References |
Fat Substitutes
13 (16) egg and/or cow's milk allergic patients |
Allergenicity of microparticulated egg and cow's milk proteins in fat substitues (Simplesse, Beta IL): No alteration of allergenic potencies in SDS-PAGE immunoblot | (1) Sampson & Cooke 1990
(2) Sampson & Cooke 1992 |
Ovomucoid in Egg Yolk
Determination by ELISA and immunoblot |
Heat-coagulated egg yolk (boiled egg, 15 min):
Ovomucoid 4.8 +/- 0.8 µg/g, content increased up to 78.8 +/- 31.3 µg/g after standing of boiled egg for 120 min; not detectable in raw egg yolk |
Sakai et al. 1998 |
Egg White Preparations
2 egg white allergic patients (IEF-PAGE immunoblot) |
IgE-binding proteins in
pasteurized egg white powder, frozen and pasteurized egg white, liquid pasteurized egg white and pork meat pastes containing 2% dry powder |
Leduc et al. 1999 |