IgE-Mediated Hypersensitivity to Common Earthworm

High titre of anti‐Ascaris immunoglobulin E associated with bronchial asthma symptoms in 5‐year‐old rural Bangladeshi children

“…Jarrett and miller [21] described wheezing among researchers who handled helminths. Besides, Porcel et al [33] reported a fisherman who presented wheezing caused by IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to common earthworms. Third, the higher anti-Ascaris IgE levels in the wheezing group might simply mean that atopic children produce more anti-Ascaris IgE in response to Ascaris stimulation [10].…”

Acute coronary syndrome secondary to allergic coronary vasospasm (Kounis Syndrome): a case series, follow-up and literature review

“…The earthworm peptides were demonstrated to regulate immune-responsiveness and relieve bronchial spasm [10], but it’s also a source of foreign protein reasonable to be a suspicious allergen. Several case reports had described patients suffering allergic angioedema, conjunctivitis, rhinitis and urticarial caused by common earthworm L.terrestris (used as fish baits), type I hypersensitivity mechanism was demonstrated to be responsible [11–13]. Carreñoet et al [14] recognized 1 allergen of around 15.5kDa in 13cases allergic to L terrestris , which provided a molecular proof for earthworm allergy.…”

Contact angioedema and conjunctivitis caused by Lumbricus terrestris: cross‐reactivity with Anisakis simplex

“…An SDS-PAGE immunoblot revealed a 20 kDa IgE-fixing band. It was suggested that this allergen corresponded to Bla g 1 (major allergen from Blatella germanica), but both skin prick test and specific IgE were negative to cockroach (7). Fe´lix-Toledo et al found cross-reactivity among the different nematode species used as fishing baits.…”