Recombinant latex allergens

Abstract

Abstract In the last few years many efforts have been made to reduce the incidence of latex allergy. The identification of the major latex allergens and their recombinant production are useful steps towards the understanding of latex allergy and its management. A clear advantage of the recombinant proteins in general is the possibility to produce large-scale quantities at highly reproducible quality. Recombinant allergens also facilitate the study of the molecular bases of the immune reactivity of the proteins. Nevertheless, they have to be validated against native proteins for equivalence in allergenicity before they can be more widely adapted for clinical use. Currently 13 latex allergens have been included in the latest nomenclature list of the International Nomenclature Committee of Allergens and assigned the official names Hev b 1–13. With the use of single native and/or recombinant allergens the determination of specific sensitization profiles for different patient groups dependent on their various routes of exposure is possible. The specific IgE-diagnostic was further improved significantly by addition of recombinant Hev b 5 to natural latex extract, which was underrepresented in the initial test extract.