Anaphylaxis produced by rubber glove contact. Case reports and immunological identification of the antigens involved.

A study was carried out on six subjects suffering from anaphylactic reactions including asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, contact urticaria and hypotension following contact with rubber gloves. All of them showed skin sensitivity and serum specific IgE to various preparations of natural latex, and not to other chemicals used in glove manufacturing. Immunoblotting techniques demonstrated that at least four soluble polypeptides from natural latex had the ability to bind specific human IgE. The results suggested that natural latex proteins present in rubber gloves can cause severe specific hypersensitivity reactions.