Immunological and molecular basis of anaphylaxis caused by peanut and tree nut allergy

据估计，对坚果的过敏影响了1%的人口，花生是致命的食物引起的过敏反应的主要原因。1993年，英国发生了5起死亡事件，这引起了媒体对这一问题严重性的关注。坚果中的蛋白质会引发大量的免疫反应，导致身体进入过敏性休克，所有主要的身体系统都会关闭。坚果过敏通常在婴儿期出现，并无限期持续。随着坚果在更广泛和更少可见的食品中使用，致敏性正在增加并更早发生。有人提出，错误地，花生（落花生）过敏患者不会对树坚果（榛子，杏仁，巴西，核桃）过敏。然而，英国对1250名患有花生过敏反应的患者进行的一项调查显示，50%的花生过敏患者也对其他坚果过敏，这证实了我们自己的临床观察。目前，不像昆虫毒液过敏，草花粉过敏和屋尘螨过敏，没有预防性治疗。我们计划探索花生过敏，并研究花生和主要坚果之间的交叉反应性，试图确定一种过敏原，可以解释过敏的分子性质，并提供免疫治疗的方法。这些信息是必要的，如果我们要实现安全和有效的过敏注射的患者与这种终身和危及生命的过敏，以及协助发展更好的诊断，

An allergy to nuts is estimated to affect 1% of the population and peanuts are the major cause of fatal food-induced anaphylaxis. Five deaths occurred in the UK in 1993 which attracted media attention to the gravity of this problem. Proteins in the nut trigger a massive immunological reaction that causes the body to go into anaphylactic shock in which all the major body systems shut down. Nut allergy usually presents in infancy and persists indefinitely. As nuts are used in a wider and less visible range of food products, sensitisation is increasing and occurring earlier. It has been proposed, wrongly, that peanut (groundnut) allergic patients do not suffer from allergy to tree nuts (hazel, almond, Brazil, walnut). However a British survey of 1250 patients suffering from peanut anaphylaxis revealed that 50% of people with peanut allergy are also allergic to other nuts confirming our own clinical observations. At present, unlike insect venom allergy, grass pollen allergy and house dust mite allergy, there is no preventative treatment available. We plan to explore peanut allergy and investigate cross-reactivity between peanuts and major tree nuts to attempt to identify an allergen(s) that could explain the molecular nature of the allergy and offer approaches to immunotherapy. This information is necessary if we are to achieve safe and effective allergy shots for patients with this life long and life-threatening allergy as well as assisting in the development of better diagnostic