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Penicillium nalgiovense as an occupational and contact allergen
... Les moisissures appartenant à ce genre produisent de grandes quantités de conidies (spores) qui peuvent être aérosolisées au cours des procédés de fabrication. Plusieurs espèces impliquées dans des réactions allergiques en lien avec l'activité professionnelle ont été identifiées dans ce genre comme P. nalgiovense et P. camemberti [48][49][50][51]. Les symptômes peuvent apparaître suite à l'inhalation de spores fongiques, mais aussi de fragments de mycélium ou de composants ou débris cellulaires. ...
... Mucor racemosus is another mold found on soft fruit, fruit juice and marmalade. Penicillium chrysogenum/notatum is cross-reactive with Penicillium camemberti, Penicillium roqueforti, Penicillium nalgiovense used for the production of special types of Unauthenticated Download Date | 3/21/18 1:33 AM cheese, dry and fermented sausages or salami varieties [19][20][21] . Fusarium venenatum, used to produce an edible mycoprotein, is cross-reactive with Alternaria alternata and Cladosporium herbarum, due to ribosomal proteins P2 Fus c 1, Alt 5, and Cla h 5. Anaphylaxis was reported immediately after eating a mycoprotein burger produced from Fusarium in an adult patient with allergic rhinitis to Alternaria sp [22][23][24] . ...
Clinical entities of food allergy in allergic rhinitis patients due to IgE-sensitization to cross-reactive aeroallergen and food allergen components are well described, but less data are available regarding allergic reactions to foods containing aeroallergens, either due to food contamination, such as oral mite anaphylaxis, or due to their natural presence in the edible products, such as pollen grains in honey and bee products. There are some potential risks for allergic rhinitis subjects due to ingestion of food products containing domestic mite, insect, fungal and pollen allergens. The knowledge of these risks is useful for the allergists and ENT specialists, especially in the context of climate changes with warmer periods facilitating mite growth in flours, and of increase use of phytotherapy and apitherapy products containing pollen grains.
... Case reports: a 45-year-old male pork butcher was reported to experience cough, tightness of the chest, and sibilant dyspnea for 2 years [110]. Episodes were related to the handling of sausages and inhalation of the dust coming from the sausage casings at his work in the butcher's area of a supermarket. ...
... In rare cases handling or ingestion of salami may also provoke angiooedema (2,6). A more common finding is hypersensitivity pneumonitis to Penicillium nalgiovense as an occupational disease in salami factory workers (7)(8)(9). ...
The genus Penicillium is a group of anamorphic fungi in the division Ascomycota, with over 250 recognized species, many of them ubiquitous in warm and moderate climates. The genus Talaromyces was described as a sexual state of Penicillium that produces soft-walled ascomata. Recently, the genus Penicillium has been redefined into Penicillium sensu stricto and Talaromyces, with all species of the former Penicillium subgenus Biverticillium being transferred to Talaromyces. Species like Talaromyces marneffei lack a defined sexual cycle but possesses all genes believed to be required for mating.
Penicillium species play important roles in the environment, agriculture, and industry. Some species of genus Penicillium are of economic importance to the food industry because they contribute to food ripening, while others are postharvest pathogens or cause spoilage. For example, Penicillium camemberti and Penicillium roqueforti are used for cheese manufacture; Penicillium nalgiovense and Penicillium chrysogenum contribute to ripening of dry-cured meat products. On the other hand, Penicillium expansum is the causal agent of blue mold postharvest rots of apples and is also able to produce patulin and other mycotoxins, as discussed later. Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium italicum are responsible for postharvest citrus decay. Heat-resistant ascospores produced by various Talaromyces spp. cause spoilage of pasteurized juices and other fruit-based products.
Penicillia are generally soil saprophytes or plant pathogens with limited invasive ability for animal tissue, except for Talaromyces marneffei (formerly Penicillium marneffei). However, production of toxic secondary metabolites is common in Penicillium spp. In addition, Penicillium is an environmental allergen of variable significance among asthmatic and atopic individuals.
A screening test to measure nonspecific airways reactivity was developed and compared to a standard methacholine inhalation challenge in 13 asthmatic patients and ten normal control subjects. The screening challenge consisted of one deep breath, then four breaths of a 5 mg/ml methacholine solution followed by one and four breaths of 25 mg/ml of methacholine. Subjects with a history of wheezing received the 5 mg/ml of methacholine first while those without a history of asthma began the challenge at the 25 mg/ml methacholine concentration. Spirometric test were employed and the challenge was terminated when FEV1 fell 20 percent from baseline. The standard methacholine challenge used a dosimeter and all subjects took five breaths of saline solution followed by seven increasing concentrations of methacholine. Dose response curves were constructed and the provocation dose of methacholine that caused a 20 percent fall in FEV1 was calculated for each protocol. Results of the screening methacholine challenge correlated with those obtained from the more lengthy standard protocol (r = 0.94), and correctly identified levels of airways reactivity in asthmatic patients and normal subjects. The abbreviated protocol was rapid (6-12 min), safe, and inexpensive. Since the equipment is readily available and easy to transport, it could be used at sites outside the hospital as a screening test for nonspecific airways reactivity.
Three different monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against human immunoglobulin E have been obtained which specifically bind to human myeloma and polyclonal IgE. The antibodies showed high avidities for soluble IgE (0.7 × 109 to 3.3 × 109 M−1). These MAb defined three distinct epitopes on IgE. A mixture of these antibodies in combination with an 125I-labelled anti-mouse Kappa chain MAb has been used to measure allergen-specific IgE. This determination was performed by a solid-phase radioimmunoassay using allergen extracts coated to either chemically activated paper discs or to polyvinyl chloride wells. This method is 4–10 times more sensitive than other previously reported procedures. A similar technique has also been applied to detect individual allergens in immunoblots of allergen extracts.
Repeated conjunctival provocation tests (CPT) were done in 20 children with rhino-conjunctivitis due to birch pollen allergy. Compared with the first open challenge, three successive blinded CPTs were reproducible within an allergen strength difference of one 10-potency in 92% of the tests. Based on the data, a power function was constructed, making it possible to determine the number of patients needed to discriminate CPT sensitivity of a given magnitude between two populations. During the study period specific serum-IgE increased in only three of 19 patients, indicating that stimulation of IgE antibody production is not a common consequence of repeated tests. We conclude that CPT is useful in clinical research. When indicated in clinical routine, CPT is a safe and easy test with good precision.
A screening test to measure nonspecific airways reactivity was developed and compared to a standard methacholine inhalation challenge in 13 asthmatic patients and ten normal control subjects. The screening challenge consisted of one deep breath, then four breaths of a 5 mg/ml methacholine solution followed by one and four breaths of 25 mg/ml of methacholine. Subjects with a history of wheezing received the 5 mg/ml of methacholine first while those without a history of asthma began the challenge at the 25 mg/ml methacholine concentration. Spirometric test were employed and the challenge was terminated when FEV1 fell 20 percent from baseline. The standard methacholine challenge used a dosimeter and all subjects took five breaths of saline solution followed by seven increasing concentrations of methacholine. Dose response curves were constructed and the provocation dose of methacholine that caused a 20 percent fall in FEV1 was calculated for each protocol. Results of the screening methacholine challenge correlated with those obtained from the more lengthy standard protocol (r = 0.94), and correctly identified levels of airways reactivity in asthmatic patients and normal subjects. The abbreviated protocol was rapid (6-12 min), safe, and inexpensive. Since the equipment is readily available and easy to transport, it could be used at sites outside the hospital as a screening test for nonspecific airways reactivity.
Molds of the class of Oomycetes are of allergologic importance in special cases. However, probes are not commercially available for diagnostic purposes. Our case report is based on the medical history of a greenhouse worker who had atopic syndrome. He handled pure cultures of defined fungi and plants. A sensitization to pseudo mildew growing on grapevine (Plasmopara viticola) was found. Skin prick test and histamine release test results were positive when extract of P. viticola was used. Detection of IgE reactivities against pseudo mildew via binding tests, Western blot analysis, and isoelectric focusing immunoblot confirmed the diagnosis. To our knowledge these results demonstrate for the second time a sensitization to Oomycetes.
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to dry sausage mould has been reported in workers who brush off the excess mould which coats dry sausage. Prevalence of symptoms and sensitization to mould among these pork-butchery workers is unknown. The aim of the study was to assess the clinical, radiographic, functional, and immunological features in exposed and non-exposed workers in semi-industrial pork butcheries.
Symptoms, and serum precipitins against mould extracts, were studied in workers in semi-industrial pork butcheries. Of 600 workers asked to participate, 123 (20.5%) were included. Fifty-nine workers, exposed to dry (raw) sausage mould and Penicillium nalgiovense were compared with 64 non-exposed subjects, for symptoms, chest X-rays, spirometry and CO-transfer measurements. Precipitating antibodies were detected by immunoelectrophoresis and electrosyneresis.
Sneezing, cough, dyspnoea, nasal obstruction, headache, and discomfort were significantly more frequent in the exposed group at work and after work than in the control group (P < 0.05). The prevalence of precipitating antibodies for sausage mould was higher in the exposed group (37%) than in the non-exposed group (9%) (P < 0.01). The mean number of precipitating lines measured by electrosyneresis was higher in exposed workers than in non-exposed workers for mould extract (1.09 vs 0.28, P < 0.05) and for Penicillium nalgiovense (1.77 vs 0.33, P < 0.05). No specific X-ray opacity or lung function impairment was found in either group.
Clinical symptoms and sensitization to Penicillium nalgiovense are frequent among workers exposed to mould during brushing in dry sausage plants.
The family Dermestidae belongs to the order Coleoptera. Occupational allergy has been described in museum personnel. A 31-year-old male wool worker presenting rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma episodes probably linked to exposure to Dermestidae-infected wool was investigated.
Extracts prepared either from insect bodies or from dust from parasitized wool were used for skin prick testing (SPT), conjunctival and bronchial provocation tests and in vitro determinations.
SPT and provocation tests were positive to both extracts. PEFR measurement demonstrated the association between the patient's symptoms and occupational exposure to Dermestidae. Specific IgE to both extracts was detected and immunoblotting revealed several protein bands from 5 to 200 kDa that were reactive to IgE from the patient's serum.
Dermestidae exposure in wool workers when handling parasitized wool can be a cause of IgE-mediated rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma.