Allergy information for: Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum )

  • Name: Bell pepper
  • Scientific Name: Capsicum annuum
  • Occurrence: Bell pepper can be eaten raw or can be added as a seasoning to cooked foods.
  • Allergy Information: Allergy to bell pepper is commonly reported with respiratory symptoms rather than reactions of the mouth or skin (most commonly rhinoconjunctivitis but also asthma) which is slightly unusual. Headaches were also reported which are sometimes associated with allergic rhinitis but are otherwise rarely reported as a symptom of food allergy. Allergy to bell pepper is often associated with the celery-birch-mugwort-spice syndrome.
  • Other Information:
  • Taxonomic Information: NEWT http://www.ebi.ac.uk/newt/display?search=4072
  • Last modified: 18 October 2006

Reviews (0)

    References (0)

      Clinical History

      • Number of Studies:1-5
      • Number of Patients:>50
      • Symptoms:

        Willerroider et al. (2003) [914] reported the clinical symptoms of thirty four patients with a history of allergy to bell pepper as follows. Rhinoconjunctivitis (50%), OAS (38%), urticaria (32%), allergic asthma (24%), diarrhea (6%), angio-oedema (3%), cephalea (6%) and exacerbation of atopic eczema dermatitis (3%).

        Jensen-Jarolim et al. (1998) [913] reported the clinical symptoms of 11 patients as follows: Irritation of the oral mucosa (2/11), pruritus, urticaria, angioedema, atopic dermatitis (9/11), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea (6/11), shortness of breath (3/11).

      Skin Prick Test

      • Number of Studies:1-5
      • Food/Type of allergen:

        Eight different types of bell peppers and paprika powder extracts (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      • Protocol: (controls, definition of positive etc)Not specified
      • Number of Patients:

        11 patients suffering from food adverse reactions to bell pepper and paprika (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      • Summary of Results:3/11 patients showed positive reactivity in skin prick testing with paprika extract (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      IgE assay (by RAST, CAP etc)

      • Number of Studies:0
      • Food/Type of allergen:

        Paprika powder extracts (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      • IgE protocol:

        RAST

      • Number of Patients:

        Eleven patients suffering from food adverse reactions to bell pepper and paprika (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      • Summary of Results:

        8/11 patients were positive in paprika RAST (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      Immunoblotting

      • Immunoblotting separation:

        Bell pepper protein extract was separated on either 12% or 7.5-20% polyacrylamide gels under reducing conditions (Willerroider et al. 2003) [914]

        Bell pepper protein extract was separated on 12% homogeneous gel and 5% stacking gels (Leitner et al. 1998) [916]

        Bell pepper protein extract was separated on 12% homogeneous gel and 5% stacking gels under reducing conditions (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      • Immunoblotting detection method:

        The proteins were transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes. The membrane was incubated with patient sera (1:4). Bound IgE was detected by 125I-labelled anti-human IgE antibodies(1:20) and visualised by autoradiography (Willerroider et al. 2003) [914]

        The proteins were transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes. The membrane was blocked with 0.5% bovine serum albumin and incubated with patient sera (1:4). Bound IgE was detected by 125I-labelled rabbit anti-human IgE antibodies (Leitner et al. 1998) [916]

        The proteins were transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes. The membrane was blocked with 0.5% bovine serum albumin and incubated with patient sera (1:4). Bound IgE was detected by 125I-labelled rabbit anti-human IgE antibodies (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      • Immunoblotting results:

        All the patients displayed IgE binding to a range of bell pepper proteins from 14 to 90 kDa. 32% reacted to the 14 kDa protein (profilin) (Willerroider et al. 2003) [914]

        73 % (16/22) sera of patients with celery-birch-mugwort-spice syndrome demonstrated IgE binding to pepper extract. 93% of those patientes recognised proeins at 28 and 60 kDa. Two sera showed additional IgE binding to minor allergens of 14, 25, 30, 35 and 40 kDa. One serum reacted only to the 60 kDa allergen. 95 % sera of patients with celery-birch-mugwort-spice syndrome demonstrated IgE binding to paprika allergens in the range of 23 to 50 kDa (Leitner et al. 1998) [916]

        IgE binding patterns varied among the eight different types of bell pepper extract used. Immunoblotting revealed IgE binding to 10, 14, 17, 23, 24, 28, 31, 35, 40, 46 and 69 kDa proteins. 5 of 10 patients showed intensive IgE binding to a 14 kDa protein, 10 of 10 to the 23 kDa. One patient showed only IgE binding to a 17b kDa protein. (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]

      Oral provocation

      • Number of Studies:0
      • Food used and oral provocation vehicle:
      • Blind:

      • Number of Patients:
      • Dose response:
      • Symptoms:No oral provocation performed

      IgE cross-reactivity and Polysensitisation

      Ebner et al. (1998) [915] found immunologic cross-reactivity between allergens in spices from the botanic families Apiaceae, Piperaceae, and Solanaceae.

      Van Toorenenbergen et al. (2000) detected profilin specific IgE only in food-allergic patients but not in pollen- allergic patients.

      Other Clinical information

      Reviews (0)

        References (5)

        • Jensen-Jarolim E, Santner B, Leitner A, Grimm R, Scheiner O, Ebner C, Breiteneder H
          Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) express allergens (profilin, pathogenesis-related protein P23 and Bet v 1) depending on the horticultural strain
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 116(2):103-9. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9652302
        • Willerroider M, Fuchs H, Ballmer-Weber BK, Focke M, Susani M, Thalhamer J, Ferreira F, Wuthrich B, Scheiner O, Breiteneder H, Hoffmann-Sommergruber K
          Cloning and molecular and immunological characterisation of two new food allergens, Cap a 2 and Lyc e 1, profilins from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) and Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum).
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 131(4):245-55. 2003
          PUBMEDID: 12915767
        • Ebner C, Jensen-Jarolim E, Leitner A, Breiteneder H
          Characterization of allergens in plant-derived spices: Apiaceae spices, pepper (Piperaceae), and paprika (bell peppers, Solanaceae).
          Allergy. 53(46 Suppl):52-4. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9825999
        • Leitner A, Jensen-Jarolim E, Grimm R, Wuthrich B, Ebner H, Scheiner O, Kraft D, Ebner C.
          Allergens in pepper and paprika. Immunologic investigation of the celery-birch-mugwort-spice syndrome
          Allergy. 53(1):36-41. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9491227
        • van Toorenenbergen AW, Waanders J, Gerth Van Wijk R, Vermeulen AM
          Immunoblot analysis of IgE-binding antigens in paprika and tomato pollen.
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 122(4):246-50. 2000
          PUBMEDID: 10971114

        Biochemical Information for Cap a 1

        • Allergen Name:Cap a 1
        • Alternatve Allergen Names:Osmotin-like protein
        • Allergen Designation:Major
        • Protein Family:

          Thaumatin-like proteins, Pfam PF00314

        • Sequence Known?:Yes
        • Allergen accession No.s:

          Q9ARG0: SwissProt: http://us.expasy.org/cgi-bin/niceprot.pl?Q9ARG0

          AJ297410; CAC34055.2; -.EMBL / GenBank
          AF297646; AAK97184.1; -.EMBL / GenBank

        • 3D Structure Accession No.:None
        • Calculated Masses:23984.78 Da (mature protein)
        • Experimental Masses:23 kDa
        • Oligomeric Masses:None
        • Allergen epitopes:Not known
        • Allergen stability:
          Process, chemical, enzymatic:

          The thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) contain 8 disulfide bridgesand so it might be expected to be thermostable. The TPLs are generally resistant to proteases and pH-induced denaturation (Breiteneder, H. 2004) [1001]

          This protein is thought to be heat stable since it was also present in the dried powder of paprika and able to inhibit IgE binding to the corresponding protein in the protein extract (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]
        • Nature of main cross-reacting proteins:Not known
        • Allergen properties & biological function:Cap a 1has significant similarities to other thaumatin-like proteins belonging to pathogenesis-related protein group 5 and are thought to be produced in response to pathogen infection or to osmotic stress. (Inschlag et al. 1998)
        • Allergen purification:Not described
        • Other biochemical information:pI 7.53

        References (3)

        • Jensen-Jarolim E, Santner B, Leitner A, Grimm R, Scheiner O, Ebner C, Breiteneder H
          Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) express allergens (profilin, pathogenesis-related protein P23 and Bet v 1) depending on the horticultural strain
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 116(2):103-9. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9652302
        • Breiteneder H.
          Thaumatin-like proteins -- a new family of pollen and fruit allergens
          Allergy. 59:79-81.. 2004
          PUBMEDID: 15080826
        • Inschlag C, Hoffmann-Sommergruber K, O'Riordain G, Ahorn H, Ebner C, Scheiner O, Breiteneder H.
          Biochemical characterisation of Pru a 2, a 23kD thaumatin-like protein representing a potential major allergen in cherry (Prunus avium)
          Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 116:22-28.. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9623505

        Biochemical Information for Cap a 2

        • Allergen Name:Cap a 2
        • Alternatve Allergen Names:None
        • Allergen Designation:minor
        • Protein Family:

          Profilin, Pfam, PF00235

        • Sequence Known?:yes
        • Allergen accession No.s:

          Q93YI9:Swissprot: http://ca.expasy.org/cgi-bin/niceprot.pl?Q93YI9

          AJ417552: EMBL / GenBank

        • 3D Structure Accession No.:
        • Calculated Masses:14184 Da
        • Experimental Masses:14 kDa
        • Oligomeric Masses:28 kDa
        • Allergen epitopes:
        • Allergen stability:
          Process, chemical, enzymatic:          Bell pepper profilin is destroyed during processing since it is not detected in dried bell pepper fruits (paprika) (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]
        • Nature of main cross-reacting proteins:

          Purified rCap a2 was able to inhibit IgE binding to rLyc e 1 (tomato profilin) by 50% (Willerroider et al. 2003) [914]

          Cross-reactivity was observed with rBet v2 (birch pollen profilin) (Jensen-Jarolim et al. 1998) [913]. Like other profilin allergens Cap a 2 is involved in pollen-fruit IgE cross-reactivity.

        • Allergen properties & biological function:

          Profilin is an actin-binding protein of the cytoskeleton

        • Allergen purification:Recombinant Cap a2 has been expressed in E. coli and purified by affinity and ion exhange chromatography (Willerroider et al. 2003) [914]
        • Other biochemical information:Cap a 2 sequence shows a high degree of identity to other plant profilins such as tomato (91%), cherry (87%). (Willerroider et al. 2003) [914]

        References (3)

        • Jensen-Jarolim E, Santner B, Leitner A, Grimm R, Scheiner O, Ebner C, Breiteneder H
          Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) express allergens (profilin, pathogenesis-related protein P23 and Bet v 1) depending on the horticultural strain
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 116(2):103-9. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9652302
        • Willerroider M, Fuchs H, Ballmer-Weber BK, Focke M, Susani M, Thalhamer J, Ferreira F, Wuthrich B, Scheiner O, Breiteneder H, Hoffmann-Sommergruber K
          Cloning and molecular and immunological characterisation of two new food allergens, Cap a 2 and Lyc e 1, profilins from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) and Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum).
          Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 131(4):245-55. 2003
          PUBMEDID: 12915767
        • Ebner C, Jensen-Jarolim E, Leitner A, Breiteneder H
          Characterization of allergens in plant-derived spices: Apiaceae spices, pepper (Piperaceae), and paprika (bell peppers, Solanaceae).
          Allergy. 53(46 Suppl):52-4. 1998
          PUBMEDID: 9825999