Alcohol-induced anaphylaxis to grapes.

BACKGROUND

Allergy to grape is uncommon, however allergic reactions to all different types of grape and wine have been described and exercise-induced allergy to grape has also been reported.

CASE REPORT: An 18-year-old woman who had presented several anaphylactic reactions on New Year's Eve. She remains asymptomatic if she eats the fruit alone but not if she associates the fruit with alcoholic drinks. Skin prick test with fresh grape and oral challenge with grapes and champagne together were positive. We performed an immunologic study using the patient's sera and the sera of two other patients with grape allergy not alcohol-induced in order to determine if the allergens implicated are different when alcohol is a cofactor: any differences were found. We use SDS-PAGE technique and Ig E immunobloting to identify the allergens.

CONCLUSION

We report a case of alcohol- induced anaphylaxis to grape where no different allergens to grape were identified when alcohol is a cofactor.