2017 Volume 127 Issue 3 Pages 447-453
Although Anisakis allergy is well known to cause acute urticaria (AU) after eating seafood, it still remains unclear what percentage of AU cases is caused by Anisakis allergy. Therefore, to elucidate the relationship between Anisakis allergy and AU after seafood intake (AUSI), we examined the serum level of specific immunoglobulin E against Anisakis simplex (IgE (AS)) in 40 patients with AUSI (26 males and 14 females) and 21 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria with no history of seafood allergy (CIU) (8 males and 13 females) as controls at the city hospital close to the Kesennuma fishing port in Japan. The frequency of IgE (AS) positive patients was significantly higher in AUSI (50% (7/14)) than in CIU (8% (1/13)) only among female cases; in males, there was no significant difference between AUSI (65% (17/26)) and CIU (63% (5/8)). Similarly, the level of IgE (AS) was significantly higher in female patients with AUSI (16.2±21.3 (mean+SD)) than CIU (0.8±1.2) but no significant difference was found between AUSI (30.1±39.6) and CIU (6.6±7.5) in males. These data demonstrated that Anisakis allergy can be a major cause of AUSI in female cases who less frequently eat seafood contaminated with Anisakis simplex. In male cases, we cannot diagnose Anisakis allergy with IgE (AS) positivity.
