Contact sensitization to propolis in the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) 2013 to 2019 and market survey of propolis commerce in Germany.

Keywords: allergic contact dermatitis; clinical epidemiology; commerce; contact sensitization; export; import; propolis; trade EN allergic contact dermatitis clinical epidemiology commerce contact sensitization export import propolis trade 722 724 3 11/18/21 20211201 NES 211201 Propolis is a natural product that consists of more than 100 compounds and shows great compositional variation depending on its origin.1 The most common poplar-type propolis is produced by honeybees in China, Europe, and North America, and is characterized by several caffeates as major allergens.2 The Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) and others recently observed increasing rates of propolis sensitization.3,4 We aimed to identify causes of increasing sensitization to propolis using IVDK and German trade data. Since 2016, increased import and decreased export of propolis to and from Germany, respectively, probably indicate increased propolis use and exposure, which most likely explains the upward trend of propolis sensitization. [Extracted from the article]