Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
5 years ago

NUT Co Reactivity - Acquiring Knowledge for Elimination Recommendations (NUT CRACKER) Study

Liat Nachshon, Michael Y Appel, Michael Goldberg, Naama Epstein-Rigby, Keren Golobov, Michael B Levy, Arnon Elizur
Background Ambiguities exist regarding the diagnosis of tree-nut allergy, necessitating either elimination or performance of oral food challenges (OFC). Objective To examine the co-incidences of allergies among tree-nuts and improve diagnostic testing to minimize the need for OFC. Methods Eighty three patients prospectively evaluated for walnut, pecan, cashew, pistachio, hazelnut and almond allergy. A history of previous reactions was obtained and standardized skin prick tests (SPT) using finely ground tree-nut solution and basophil activation tests (BAT) were performed. Patients underwent OFC for each tree-nut they eliminated and to which a reaction in the previous 2 years was not documented. Results While most patients were sensitized to 5-6 tree-nuts, over 50% were allergic to only 1-2 tree-nuts. The highest rate of allergy in sensitized patients was observed for walnut (74.6%) and cashew (65.6%). The rate of co-allergy for most tree-nuts was < 30%. Two thirds of walnut- and cashew-allergic patients were also allergic to pecan and pistachio, respectively, while all pecan- and pistachio-allergic patients were allergic to walnut and cashew, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic analysis for SPT and BAT was tree-nut dependent and yielded area under the curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.75-0.94. Knowledge of co-incident allergies in these pairs along with the combination of SPT and BAT correctly distinguished allergic from tolerant patients for walnut (87%), pecan (66%), cashew (71%) and pistachio (79%). Conclusion The data presented here should assist in differentiating between allergic and tolerant patients, decrease the need for OFC and allow for appropriate elimination recommendations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1111/all.13353

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