Adult With Persistent Milk Allergy
Adult With Persistent Milk Allergy
I have never come across an adult with true immunoglobulin (Ig) E -mediated allergy to milk. I have seen lots of children and the oldest one I have seen is age 10 years with RAST IgE over 100. Has anybody seen an adult with persistent milk allergy?
Milk allergy has been reported in adults, although allergies to nuts, peanuts, seafoods, and eggs are all more common than milk allergy in adults. This is in contrast to milk allergy in children, which during infancy is one of the most common food allergies. Actually, in children, it appears that there are 2 general types of IgE-mediated milk allergy in childhood. One form tends to be transient and the second form is associated with persistent allergy that is not outgrown in childhood. Recently, molecular mechanisms have been proposed for these different forms of milk allergy. In the transient form of allergy, the IgE binds to a secondary or tertiary structure of a milk protein; while in the more severe form, IgE binds to a linear epitope that is strictly determined by the amino acid sequence. This type of linear epitope is resistant to effects of digestion in the stomach and intestines, and thus may be more likely to penetrate the gastrointestinal lining and reach immunologically active tissues. Why this type of allergy is persistent rather than transient is not known.
I have never come across an adult with true immunoglobulin (Ig) E -mediated allergy to milk. I have seen lots of children and the oldest one I have seen is age 10 years with RAST IgE over 100. Has anybody seen an adult with persistent milk allergy?
Milk allergy has been reported in adults, although allergies to nuts, peanuts, seafoods, and eggs are all more common than milk allergy in adults. This is in contrast to milk allergy in children, which during infancy is one of the most common food allergies. Actually, in children, it appears that there are 2 general types of IgE-mediated milk allergy in childhood. One form tends to be transient and the second form is associated with persistent allergy that is not outgrown in childhood. Recently, molecular mechanisms have been proposed for these different forms of milk allergy. In the transient form of allergy, the IgE binds to a secondary or tertiary structure of a milk protein; while in the more severe form, IgE binds to a linear epitope that is strictly determined by the amino acid sequence. This type of linear epitope is resistant to effects of digestion in the stomach and intestines, and thus may be more likely to penetrate the gastrointestinal lining and reach immunologically active tissues. Why this type of allergy is persistent rather than transient is not known.
