Major royal jelly protein 3 as a possible allergen in royal jelly-induced anaphylaxis.

摘要

This is a report regarding a patient with royal jelly (RJ)-induced anaphylaxis, RJ is a secretion from the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker honey bees. Approximately 50% of its dry weight consists of protein and other ingredients including free amino acids, fatty acids, sugar and vitamins. Recently, RJ is widely consumed as a constituent of health tonics in Japan. There have been a few reports of acute bronchial asthma, anaphylaxis and hemor-rhagic colitis caused by RJ. Major RJ protein 1 (molecular weight: 55 kDa) and major RJ protein 2 (47 kDa) are reported to be the two major allergens of RJ anaphylaxis. We herein report a case of RJ-induced anaphylaxis showing immunoglobulin (lg)E antibodies reacting to an RJ protein of 68 kDa in addition to RJ proteins of 55 and 47 kDa.