Dictionary of Allergies .. Celery [(L) Apium graveolens]

Plant of the Umbelliferae family which can be phototoxic producing phytophotodermatitis. Celery is eaten raw, cooked in salads, stuffings, soups.  Apium repaceum is eaten as a root vegetable.  Celery's dried seeds are used as spice. According to published case histories, allergy to celeriac (celery tuber), a member of the Apiaceae family, belongs to the most frequent pollen-related food allergies in some European countries such as Switzerland, France, or Germany, (Jankiewicz, A., 1996).

Celery has been reported as a cause of multiple attacks of urticaria, angioedema and anaphylactic shock, when eaten.  Exercise-induced anaphylaxis has been reported after ingestion of celery and this attributed to the presence of a unique antigen causally related to anaphylaxis (Kidd, et al:1983).  Cooked and raw carrots, celery and anise have several common allergens (Lopez et al:1991), it has been reported crossreactivity between celery, mugwort and birch (Vallier et al: 1992). 

According to Wűthrich and Dietschi 1985) the patients who are allergic to mugwort pollen could develop symptoms, positive skin prick test and positive Phadebas RAST to various spices calling this the "celery-spice-carrot-mugwort syndrome".  Patients with the mugwort-celery association were found to have sensitivity to spices found in the same family: anise, fennel, coriander, cumin (eliciting positive immediate reactions) (Stager et al:1991). Ballmer-Weber (2002) studied the  influence of food processing on the allergenicity of celery in 12 patients and they concluded the following:

1) In a subset of patients with a positive double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges (DBPCFC) to cooked celery, celery remains allergenic even after extended thermal treatment (76.07 min/100°C).

2) Celery spice is allergenic for patients with an allergy to raw celery.

3) RBL cells sensitized with mouse IgE to raw celery may serve as a useful tool for screening the potential allergenicity of heat-processed products containing celery. Vieths, S.et al (2002) did not identified a celery allergen responsible for a mugwort-specific cross-reaction The major allergen Api g 1 (Breiteneder H, G, et al, 1995) in celery mediates a birch-specific cross-reaction, whereas profilin and CCD are not only present in tree pollen, but also in pollens of weeds and grasses. In their patient panel. f85 is the symbol of Celery in the RAST, UniCAP/Pharmacia CAP system Allergens. CAST-ELISA is more specific than routine diagnostic tests for the diagnosis of pollen-related food allergy to celery, hazelnut, and carrot (Ballmer-Weber,  B. K. et al, 2008).

References

Ballmer-Weber,  B. K. et al: Influence of food processing on the allergenicity of celery: DBPCFC with celery spice and cooked celery in patients with celery allergy. Allergy 2002: 57: 228

Ballmer-Weber BK, Weber JM, Vieths S, Wüthrich B. Predictive value of the sulfidoleukotriene release assay in oral allergy syndrome to celery, hazelnut, and carrot. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2008;18(2):93-9.

Breiteneder H, G, et al. Molecular characterization of Api g 1, the major allergen of celery (Apium graveolens), and its immunological and structural relationships to a group of 17 kDa tree pollen allergens. Eur J Biochem 1995;233:484-489.

Jankiewicz A, Aulepp H, Baltes W, et al. Allergic sensitization to native and heated celery root in pollen-sensitive patients investigated by skin test and IgE binding. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 1996;111:268-278.

Kidd, JM. et al:  Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis, J, Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1983:71:407-411.

Lopez, M. et al:  Anaphylaxis to carrot:  cross reactivity of carrot-specific IgE with spices from Umbelliferae family.  Annual meeting.  AAAI;  March 1-6, 1991;  San Francisco. J, Allergy Clin. Immunol. 1991:87:539.  Suppl. 1pt2.

Stager, J. et al:  Spice allergy in celery-sensitive patients, Allergy.  1991:46:475-478.

Vallier, p. et al:  Purification and characterization of an allergen from celery immunochemically related to an allergen present in several other plant species, Clin. Allergy (Clin. Exp. Allergy, 1992:22:774-782.

Vieths, S., Lüttkopf, D., Reindl, J., Anliker, M. D., Wüthrich, B. & Ballmer-Weber, B, K. Allergens in celery and zucchini. Allergy 2002:57:(s72):100-105.