Allergy information for: Castor bean (Ricinus communis )

  • Name: Castor bean
  • Scientific Name: Ricinus communis
  • Occurrence: Castor bean is toxic and should not be eaten. The reported allergic reaction followed accidental ingestion.
  • Allergy Information:
  • Other Information: Castor beans are not used for human consumption. The castor plant and its parts are a source of potent inhalant allergens.
  • Taxonomic Information:

  • Last modified: 18 October 2006

Reviews (0)

    References (0)

      Clinical History

      • Number of Studies:1-5
      • Number of Patients:1-5
      • Symptoms:Urticaria, drowsiness, dyspneic and Quincke's edema (swelling of lips, glottis) after chewing a single bean. Blood pressure was 6 mmHg (Navarro-Rouimi & Charpin 1999 [812]). Note that ingested ricin may prove fatal in a dose of 0.03 gm.

      Skin Prick Test

      • Number of Studies:0
      • Food/Type of allergen:
      • Protocol: (controls, definition of positive etc)
      • Number of Patients:
      • Summary of Results:

      IgE assay (by RAST, CAP etc)

      • Number of Studies:0
      • Food/Type of allergen:Not specified
      • IgE protocol:CAP-RAST
      • Number of Patients:1
      • Summary of Results:IgE to castor bean was 80-100 lU/l; i.e., class 5 in the patient of Navarro-Rouimi & Charpin (1999) [812]

      Immunoblotting

      • Immunoblotting separation:

      • Immunoblotting detection method:
      • Immunoblotting results:Not reported

      Oral provocation

      • Number of Studies:0
      • Food used and oral provocation vehicle:
      • Blind:
      • Number of Patients:
      • Dose response:
      • Symptoms:

      IgE cross-reactivity and Polysensitisation

      Cross reactivity between green coffee and castor bean aeroallergens among coffee workers has been reported.

      Other Clinical information

      Castor beans are not used for human consumption. The castor plant and its parts are a source of potent inhalant allergens. Navarro-Rouimi & Charpin (1999) [812] conclude that sensitization was by inhalation before chewing the castor bean.

      Cross reactivity between green coffee and castor bean aeroallergens among coffee workers has been reported. There are also reports of contact allergy.

      There is an intriguing paper which shows that residual allergenic material from castor bean can be identified in the flesh of fish fed a castor bean pomace (detoxified castor bean residue after oil extraction) (Layton 1977 [811])

      Reviews (0)

        References (2)

        • Navarro-Rouimi R, Charpin D.
          Anaphylactic reaction to castor bean seeds.
          Allergy 54(10):1117. 1999
          PUBMEDID: 10536895
        • Layton LL
          Castorbean allergens in tissues of catfish reared on a diet containing castorbean pomace.
          J Sci Food Agric 28, 399-404. 1977
          PUBMEDID: 406483

        Biochemical Information for Ric c 1 and Ric c 3

        • Allergen Name:Ric c 1 and Ric c 3
        • Alternatve Allergen Names:2S albumin
        • Allergen Designation:Major
        • Protein Family:PFAM PF00234; tryp_alpha_amyl
        • Sequence Known?:Yes
        • Allergen accession No.s:

          P01089 http://ca.expasy.org/cgi-bin/niceprot.pl?P01089 Ric c 1
          1707274A Ric c 3

        • 3D Structure Accession No.:1PSY
        • Calculated Masses:

          11289 Da - Ric c 1
          12032 Da - Ric c 3

        • Experimental Masses:11 kDa
        • Oligomeric Masses:Monomer
        • Allergen epitopes:Not known
        • Allergen stability:
          Process, chemical, enzymatic:

          Not reported but may be stabilised by disulphide crosslinks.

        • Nature of main cross-reacting proteins:None reported
        • Allergen properties & biological function:The major allergen of castor bean is a 2S albumin seed storage protein , with a molecular weight of 11kD on SDS-PAGE under native conditions and 6 and 8kD under reducing conditions. The accession number P01089 is given for the unprocessed precursor protein.
        • Allergen purification:Castor bean extract prepared by grinding castor beans into a fine powder and extracting in PBS for 3 hours at room temperature. The extract was centrifuged at 2000g for 15min and the fatty layer discarded. Extract was analysed by SDS-PAGE and IEF. The extract was also used to purify the 2S storage albumins as follows: the protein was extracted into saturated ammonium sulphate solution at 4C overnight and the precipitated protein was centrifuged at 2000g for 15min. The precipitate was resuspended in 0.05M imidazole HCl buffer and fractionated on a Sephadex G-50 column. The second peak was pooled and re-chromatographed to give a very pure 2S albumin preparation.
        • Other biochemical information:

          Ric c 1 (P01089) and Ric c 3 (1707274A) are iso-allergens (Bashir et al 1998 [813]).

        References (4)

        • Thorpe SC, Kemeny DM, Panzani RC, McGurl B, Lord M.
          Allergy to castor bean. II. Identification of the major allergens in castor bean seeds.
          J Allergy Clin Immunol. 82(1):67-72.. 1988
          PUBMEDID: 3392372
        • Thorpe SC, Kemeny DM, Panzani R, Lessof MH.
          Allergy to castor bean. I. Its relationship to sensitization to common inhalant allergens (atopy).
          J Allergy Clin Immunol 82: 62-67.. 1988
          PUBMEDID: 3392371
        • Bashir ME, Hubatsch I, Leinenbach HP, Zeppezauer M, Panzani RC, Hussein IH.
          Ric c 1 and Ric c 3, the allergenic 2S albumin storage proteins of Ricinus communis: complete primary structures and phylogenetic relationships.
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 115(1):73-82.. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9430499
        • Pantoja-Uceda D, Bruix M, Gimenez-Gallego G, Rico M, Santoro J.
          Solution structure of RicC3, a 2S albumin storage protein from Ricinus communis.
          Biochemistry 42(47):13839-13847.. 2003
          PUBMEDID: 14636051

        Biochemical Information for Ric c 2

        • Allergen Name:Ric c 2
        • Alternatve Allergen Names:11S crystalloid protein
        • Allergen Designation:Minor
        • Protein Family:Probably Pfam PF00190; Cupin; 11S seed storage globulin
        • Sequence Known?:

          See other information

        • Allergen accession No.s:
        • 3D Structure Accession No.:Not determined
        • Calculated Masses:
        • Experimental Masses:
        • Oligomeric Masses:
        • Allergen epitopes:Not known
        • Allergen stability:
          Process, chemical, enzymatic:

          Not reported

        • Nature of main cross-reacting proteins:
        • Allergen properties & biological function:The allergen functions as a storage protein in castor bean.
        • Allergen purification:Not reported
        • Other biochemical information:

          A legumin-like protein from castor bean has been sequenced (AAF73007, Q9M4Q8) but it is not clear if this corresponds to Ric c 2. It is 58% identical to Ana o 2 from cashew nuts.

        References (2)

        • Thorpe SC, Kemeny DM, Panzani RC, McGurl B, Lord M.
          Allergy to castor bean. II. Identification of the major allergens in castor bean seeds.
          J Allergy Clin Immunol. 82(1):67-72.. 1988
          PUBMEDID: 3392372
        • Thorpe SC, Kemeny DM, Panzani R, Lessof MH.
          Allergy to castor bean. I. Its relationship to sensitization to common inhalant allergens (atopy).
          J Allergy Clin Immunol 82: 62-67.. 1988
          PUBMEDID: 3392371