Anaphylaxis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Anaphylaxis, including details on food allergies, diagnosis, treatment, causes.

Cross-sensitization between poppy seed and buckwheat in a food-allergic patient with poppy seed anaphylaxis.

Oppel T, Thomas P, Wollenberg A

Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany. tilmann.oppel@med.uni-muenchen.de

The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum L., is the source of both poppy seeds and opium. The commercially available seeds are widely used as ingredients for various kinds of food. IgE-mediated sensitization to poppy seeds is rare, but, if present, clinical symptoms are usually severe. Cross-sensitizations between poppy seeds and other food allergens have been described with sesame, hazelnut, rye grain and kiwi fruit. We report the case of a 17-year-old female with an apparently food-allergic reaction after ingestion of a poppy seed cake. Allergological workup revealed a poppy seed anaphylaxis and led to the identification of a novel cross-sensitization with buckwheat.

Published 9 May 2006 in Int Arch Allergy Immunol, 140(2): 170-3.
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