Antigens of <i>Euparipha pisana</i> (Snail)

The data obtained in this study suggest that eating <i>Euparipha pisana</i> (snail), a common food in Mediterranean countries, could give serious allergic reaction such as asthma. We describe here the identification and partial characterization of allergenic molecules form this new source. An aqueous extract of snail was obtained by homogenization in distilled water, centrifugation, dialysis and defatting with ethyl ether. Skin prick test (SPT) performed with the snail extract on 70 subjects allergic to the more common allergens of the Mediterranean area gave a SPT positivity in 61% of the subjects tested, with a mean value of histamine-equivalent prick (HEP) equal to 0.81 ± 0.2…