Shellfish Allergy: Diagnostics and Management

Shellfish allergy is a leading cause of severe allergic reactions and anaphylaxis in individuals with food allergies and shrimp is the most common cause of food allergy in adults. Shellfish allergy is often lifelong. Shellfish allergy is based on a history of reactivity following shellfish ingestion along with evidence of shellfish specific IgE on serum or skin testing. The gold standard for diagnosing a shellfish allergy is to perform an oral food challenge. Currently there are no treatments for shellfish allergy other than strict avoidance of any shellfish and the use of emergency medications with accidental exposure. There is a need for shellfish allergy treatment and diagnostic studies to evaluate whether a patient has a true allergy versus cross-reactivity with other invertebrate species that share similar allergenic proteins.

The aim of this Research Topic will be to identify differences between IgE and non-IgE mediated shellfish allergy, determine the epidemiology and natural history of shellfish allergy and identify diagnostic parameters to reliably predict the diagnosis of shellfish allergy. This topic will also address in vivo studies for shellfish allergy using animal models, analyzing co- and cross-reactivity to shared and specific shellfish allergens with other allergen sources (e.g. dust mites, mollusks, insects) and examining the safety and efficacy of shellfish immunotherapy. Below examples are suitable themes for manuscripts. All manuscript types (original, review, etc) accepted by Frontiers in Allergy are welcome.

• Epidemiology of crustacean/shrimp allergy
• Natural history of shellfish allergy
• Impact of food processing on allergenicity of shrimp proteins
• Diagnosis of shellfish allergy
• Crustacean/Shrimp allergens
• Adult shellfish allergy
• Pediatric shellfish allergy
• Shellfish FPIES
• Shrimp cross-reactivity with environmental proteins (i.e dust mite and cockroach)
• Shrimp cross-reactivity with other food protein sources (i.e. mealworm)
• Oral food challenges for shellfish allergy
• Shellfish Immunotherapy
• Biobanking and Samples

Conflict of interest statement: Dr. Davis has a contract with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Sindher is/was an advisory member for Genentech.
Dr. Anvari was/is as an advisory member for Sanofi.

Keywords: Prawn allergy, Shrimp allergy, Crustacean, Anaphylaxis, Tropomyosin, Arginine kinase, shellfish allergy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.