Background: There are few reports of contact urticaria from the inhalation of allergens from legume pests.
Objective: To study the origin of an outbreak of contact urticaria, asthma and anaphylaxis in farmers and agronomists who work handling dried peas.
Method: Allergenic extracts composed of Bruchus lentis and B. pisorum, healthy peas, peas treated with aluminum phosphide and parasitized peas were used for in vivo tests (prick-test, oral challenge and bronchoprovocation) in affected patients and in five controls. with a history of atopy from other legumes. In addition, patch testing with live Bruchus pisorum, patch testing with more common insecticides, molecular component analysis, and Ig-E immunodetection were carried out.
Results: Positive responses were found for the prick-test and the bronchoprovocation test to extracts of parasitized peas and B. pisorum, but the oral challenge was negative. A common 25 kDa band for infested peas and a 30 kDa band for infested pea and B. pisorum body was detected in all patients. The response for pea allergens was negative for all patients, unlike controls with a history of allergy to lentils and peanuts.
Conclusion: It was determined that B. pisorum is a cause of symptoms of immediate hypersensitivity mediated by Ig E by inhalation of the allergen or by puncture of spicules or mushrooms of B. pisorum.
