Anaphylaxis induced by pine nuts in two young girls

Pine nuts are the seeds of Pinus pinea. There are few reported cases of allergy to pine nut. We describe two young girls with anaphylaxis caused by small amounts of pine nuts. Specific IgE to pine nut was demonstrated by skin prick tests and RAST but no IgE to other nuts and pine pollen was detected. The patients had IgE against a pine nut protein band with apparent molecular weights of approximately 17 kDa that could be considered as the main allergen. Our patients were monosensitized to pine nut and the 17-kDa protein could be correlated with the severe clinical symptoms.