Tick-bite-induced anaphylaxis in Spain

Although there are very few reports of human anaphylaxis induced by tick bites, two such cases have recently been seen in Salamanca, Spain. To identify the tick species responsible, salivary-gland extracts from six species of hard tick and two of soft tick were prepared and used as allergens/antigen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of tropical medicine and parasitology 2001, Vol.95 (1), p.97-103
Main Authors: FERNANDEZ-SOTO, P, DAVILA, I, LAFFOND, E, LORENTE, F, ENCINAS-GRANDES, A, PEREZ-SANCHEZ, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergic diseases
Anaphylaxis - immunology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Bites and Stings - immunology
Blotting, Western
Case-Control Studies
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Immunoglobulin E - blood
Immunoglobulin G - blood
Immunopathology
Ixodes ricinus
Ixodidae
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Salivary Proteins and Peptides - analysis
Skin allergic diseases. Stinging insect allergies
Skin Tests
Spain
Ticks - classification
Ticks - immunology
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Summary:Although there are very few reports of human anaphylaxis induced by tick bites, two such cases have recently been seen in Salamanca, Spain. To identify the tick species responsible, salivary-gland extracts from six species of hard tick and two of soft tick were prepared and used as allergens/antigens in skin-prick tests and serological analyses. For each case, the results of the skin tests were positive for several species of hard tick but negative for the soft ticks. ELISA and western blots revealed high titres of IgG against hard ticks (but not soft ticks) in the sera from both cases. However, serum from only one of the cases was found to be ELISA- and western-blot-positive for tick-specific IgE. Accordingly, the anaphylaxis seen in one case was IgE-mediated whereas that in the other case appeared to be IgE-independent. In both cases, most of the tick-specific antibodies only recognized carbohydrate epitopes. High levels of cross-reactivity between the salivary-gland extracts from several species of hard tick made it impossible to identify which species was responsible for each anaphylactic reaction, although the immunological results seem to point to Ixodes ricinus.
ISSN:0003-4983
1364-8594
DOI:10.1080/00034980020035960