Abstract
Dioscorea batatas is widely used in Asia as a herbal medicine or food product with potential health benefits. There have been several reports of occupational asthma caused by inhalation of D. batatas dust. However, there has been no report of systemic allergic reactions after oral administration of D. batatas. Two patients with D. batatas allergy were enrolled. One had experienced severe urticaria and angioedema after indigestion, and the other had been exposed to D. batatas dust and was diagnosed as having occupational asthma. Both patients had high serum-specific IgE and IgG4 antibodies to D. batatas. And IgE immunoblot demonstrated that both sera bound to a 27-kDa protein with an IgE-binding motif, which was revealed by 2-D-electrophoresis to have the sequence Asn-Val-Glu-Asp-Glu-Phe-Ser-X-Ile- Glu-Gly-Asn-Pro-X-X-Pro-Glu-Asn-X-Gly (pI 6.40, 6.04). In conclusion, discorin from D. batatas (DB3S) was identified as the major allergen of D. batatas in patients sensitized via an oral or inhalant route.