Anaphylaxis to galacto‐oligosaccharides – an evaluation in an atopic population in Singapore. Issue 8 (22nd May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Soh, J. Y.; Huang, C.‐H.; Chiang, W. C.; Llanora, G. V.; Lee, A. J.; Loh, W.; Chin, Y. L. C.; Tay, V. Y. J.; Chan, Y. H.; Dianne, D.; Lee, B. W.
• Is Part Of: Allergy. Volume 70:Issue 8(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 1020
• Page End: 1023
• Publication Date: 2015-05-22
• Subjects: Allergy -- Periodicals; 616.97
• DOI: 10.1111/all.12645
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0105-4538

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="all12645-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Anaphylaxis to galacto‐oligosaccharides (GOS), a prebiotic, has been described in atopic patients following its supplementation in commercial milk formula in South‐East Asia. The epidemiology of this usual allergy to a carbohydrate is unknown. This study evaluated the prevalence of allergy to two formulations of commercial GOS, Vivinal^™ GOS (vGOS) and Oligomate^™, in an atopic cohort. Atopic subjects (<italic>n</italic> = 487) from two specialist allergy clinics were surveyed via structured questionnaire and underwent skin prick tests to GOS. Subjects with positive skin prick tests to GOS (<italic>n</italic> = 30, 6.2%) underwent basophil activation tests, and a subset (<italic>n</italic> = 13) underwent oral challenge tests to both formulations of GOS. Six subjects had positive challenges to vGOS; and none to Oligomate. By extrapolating the BAT and oral challenge results, the prevalence of allergy to vGOS is estimated at up to 3.5% (95% CI 2.2–5.5%) of our atopic population. Our findings show that GOS allergy may be common amongst atopics in Singapore.</p> </abstract>