Prevalence of Skin Test Reactivity to Tomato Peel and Pulp Extracts in the Mediterranean Coast of Spain

Article Outline

• Copyright

RATIONALE: Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) are widely consumed. The prevalence of sensitisation remains unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of skin test reactivity to tomato allergens in the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

METHODS: One thousand and four hundred ninety eight consecutive individuals (675 males and 823 females; mean age, 31.4 ± 17.8 years-old) evaluated for respiratory or/and cutaneous symptoms at the Allergy Units of 4 hospitals located in the Mediterranean coast were included in the study. All patients were skin prick tested with a battery of common inhalant allergens (Laboratorios LETI, S.L.) and with extracts of peel and pulp of ripe Canary Island tomatoes at 10 mg/ml. The Fisher exact test was used to evaluate the results.

RESULTS: The prevalence of sensitization to tomato was 5.94 % (89/1498 patients; 51 males and 38 females; mean age, 30.2 ± 12.9 years). The tomato peel extract was positive in 87 patients (5.81 %) and the pulp extract in 33 patients (2.2 %); 2 patients were positive exclusively to pulp. Eighty five (85.5%) tomato sensitised patients were sensitised to inhalant aeroallergens: 77 (86.5%) to pollens; 52 (58.4%) to mites, 33 (37.1%) to epithelia and 16 (18.0%) to moulds. Most of the sensitized subjects (91.1%) were asymptomatic and did not refer symptoms after tomato contact or ingestion.

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of sensitisation to tomato is high. However, most sensitized subjects are asymptomatic. Sensitisation to tomato is more prevalent among pollen sensitised individuals, suggesting allergen cross-reactivity, or a genetic predisposing factors.