. Allergopedia

Cow Dander

Βερβελίδης Δημήτριος
Ωτορινολαρυγγολόγος, Ξάνθη

Cow Dander

Latin Name: Bos taurus NCCLS

Greek Name: Eπιθήλιο αγελάδας

Code: E4

Description: Allergy to cow is becoming rare[2]. Cow dander is the most common cause of occupational contact urticaria in Finland. Occasionally cow dander also causes allergic contact dermatitis, which can be revealed by patch testing with cow dander[1]. Today, cow allergy is often work or environmental related. Increasing numbers of cases with both type I and type IV allergy are reported, but the mechanism is not clear. Cow dander, the hair and skin, is an important source of potent allergens responsible for allergic symptoms.

Kanerva L, Estlander T. (1997) In their  clinic, classified  immediate reactions as contact urticaria if the clinical picture involved whealing, and as protein contact dermatitis if dermatitis dominated the clinical picture. If delayed allergic patch test results were  obtained,  they considered  it allergic contact dermatitis. Two major allergens have been identified: Bos d 1 and Bos d 2 plus several additional ones.

Heutelbeck AR, et al (2009)  demonstrated for the first time the allergenic relevance of additional proteins with molecular weights of 14, 30, 55 and approx. 67-97 kDa in more than 50% of farmers with cattle related symptoms. One of their  most striking results was that 32% of the investigated farmers with cattle related symptoms showed negative results with commercial serological tests but distinct reactions with cow allergen in immunoblotting experiments. The Bos d 2 content in hair showed differences between certain breeds whereas German Brown and Simmental had particularly higher quantities of Bos d 2 in their hair than breeds such as Holstein-Friesian. These results strongly support the following recommendation: test results with commercial extracts that are contradictory to the clinical symptoms should be supplemented by skin tests using extracts of the hair of the farmers' own cattle[3].

Allergenic Proteins (with molecular weight):

Bos d 4; alpha-lactalbumin at 14.2 kDa; Bos d 5 beta-lactoglobulin at 18.2 kDa;

Bos d 2 (Antigen #3), lipocalin at 20 kDa; 22 ~ 25 kDa (Bos d1, Bos d2);

35 ~ 40 kDa; 41 - 46 kDa; Bos d 6, serum albumin at 67 kDa; Bos d 8, caseins at 20-30 kDa

In-House Clinical Evaluation Results[2]:

Sensitivity: 95%           Specificity: 83%

Efficiency: 93%           Number of Samples: 27

References

1.Kanerva L, Estlander T. Immediate and delayed skin allergy from cow dander. Am J Contact Dermat. 1997 Sep;8(3):167-9.

2. Hitachi Chemical Diagnostics, Inc. Allergy Monograph Series. Resource Guide to the Most Common Allergens, 2000-2003.

3. Heutelbeck AR, Junghans C, Esselmann H, Hallier E, Schulz TG. Exposure to allergens of different cattle breeds and their relevance in occupational allergy. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2009 Feb 24.

Το παρόν άρθρο προστατεύεται από το νόμο περί πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας. Απαγορεύεται η μερική ή ολική αντιγραφή και χρήση του στο διαδίκτυο ή οποιοδήποτε άλλο έντυπο μέσο, εκτός και αν ζητηθεί έγγραφη άδεια από τον ιδιοκτήτη της παρούσας ιστοσελίδας.