Anaphylactic Reactions to Arthropod Bites and Stings

Abstract

American Entomologist • Fall 2009 Two French scientists, Charles Richet and Paul Portier, codiscovered anaphylaxis in 1901. The lion’s share of the credit went to Richet, an eminent physician and Professor of Physiology at the University of Paris, while Portier was an assistant in the Laboratory of Physiology at the Sorbonne. A history of their discovery given from the perspective of Portier’s contributions is well covered by May (1985). Their collaboration began as guests on the oceanographic research vessel of Albert I, Prince of Monaco, as commemorated by a stamp (Fig. 1). The prince and his scientific director suggested the topic for their research on this scientifically historic cruise. They were to conduct experiments on the toxicity of venoms from the Portugese man-o-war, Physalia physalis. In the definitive experiment conducted after they returned to Paris, Richet and Portier exposed two dogs to weak doses of sea anemone actinotoxin and then repeated the injection at various time intervals. No reaction was noted until an injection 26 days after the beginning of the experiment, when both dogs became extremely ill and died shortly thereafter. Richet (1913) proposed two factors that were necessary and sufficient to cause an anaphylactic reaction: “increased sensitivity to a poison after previous injection of the same poison, and an incubation period necessary for this state of increased sensitivity to develop.” To name this reaction, Richet first proposed the term “aphylaxis,” later coining the term anaphylaxis (“without protection”) because it was more euphonious. For their studies on hypersensitivity reactions, Richet was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, while Portier, although his contribution was significant, did not share in the Prize and was barely mentioned in the Nobel address. Given the academic tradition at that time, it was not unusual for the more distinguished senior scientist to overshadow the lesser-known junior scientist, and Portier, a humble man, apparently did not feel slighted and remained friendly with Richet until the latter’s death in 1935. Portier made other important scientific contributions, including entomological studies concerning the physiology of aquatic insects and a treatise on the biology of butterflies published in 1949, when he was 83. Anaphylaxis described. Current definitions of anaphylaxis reflect advances in our understanding of its physiological basis: an acute systemic allergic reaction resulting from the release of chemical mediators following an immunologic reaction that is typically mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE is one class of antibodies produced by the immune system in response to foreign substances. Individuals who suffer allergic reactions produce greater quantities John H. Klotz, Jacob L. Pinnas, Stephen A. Klotz, and Justin O. Schmidt Anaphylactic Reactions to Arthropod Bites and Stings