Skip Navigation



Occupational Medicine Advance Access published online on April 1, 2009
Occupational Medicine, doi:10.1093/occmed/kqp041
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
59/4/243    most recent
kqp041v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Granslo, J.-T.
Right arrow Articles by Florvaag, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Granslo, J.-T.
Right arrow Articles by Florvaag, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Occupational allergy to Artemia fish fry feed in aquaculture

Jens-Tore Granslo1, Thien Van Do2, Tor B. Aasen1, Ågot Irgens1 and Erik Florvaag1,2,3

1 Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
2 Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
3 Institute of Internal Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Background Artemia (brine shrimp) is used as feed for fish fry and shrimp in aquaculture. Two employees in a Norwegian aquaculture research farm reported having chest symptoms when working in an Artemia hatch room.

Aim To determine the presence and prevalence of Artemia sensitization at the farm and the extent of any Artemia-related respiratory and hand skin symptoms and to identify the allergens involved.

Methods Participants completed a questionnaire and structured interview. Skin prick tests (SPTs) were performed, and immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to Artemia, shrimp and recombinant tropomyosin were determined. Gel electrophoresis and immunoblots of Artemia extracts were also carried out.

Results Thirty of 42 employees (71%) participated. Among the 24 subjects exposed to Artemia, four (17%) reported chest and/or hand skin symptoms during exposure and three of them were IgE sensitized to Artemia. Five (21%) of those exposed demonstrated IgE antibodies to Artemia and four (17%) had immediate-positive SPTs. A serum pool from these subjects exhibited IgE binding to a protein of ~97 kDa in the Artemia extract.

Conclusion Occupational exposure to the Artemia fish fry feed can cause IgE sensitization and allergic symptoms affecting airways and skin.

Keywords      Allergy; Artemia; IgE; occupational; 97 kDa

Correspondence to: Jens-Tore Granslo, Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway. Tel: +47 55973881; fax: +47 55975137; e-mail: jens-tore.granslo{at}helse-bergen.no


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.