Contact allergy to beeswax and propolis among patients with cheilitis or facial dermatitis
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2019

Background: Beeswax, both white and yellow, has many uses, such as in lip balm. This material can cause contact allergy, although not many cases have been described.
Methods: Ninety-five patients with contact cheilitis, facial eczema or a suspicion of contact allergy to beeswax were patch tested with yellow and white beeswax and with propolis, in addition to the Swedish baseline series. Patients who reacted positively to beeswax were additionally tested with caffeic acid, and two derivatives thereof that are believed to be important haptens in propolis.
Results: Seventeen patients had positive reactions to beeswax. Fourteen of these patients had been tested with both yellow and white beeswax. Among those 14, eight had positive reactions to both types of wax, five only to yellow wax, and one only to white wax. Of the 10 wax-positive patients tested with caffeic acid derivatives, three reacted positively. Fourteen beeswax-positive patients also had positive reactions to propolis.
Conclusion: Patch testing cheilitis patients is important, as contact allergy is common. Our suggestion is to patch test, apart from the baseline series and the patient's own products, also with beeswax and propolis. Many beeswax-allergic cheilitis patients would not have been diagnosed with a relevant contact allergy if only the Swedish baseline series had been used.

cheilitis

cera alba

cera flava

RRID:SCR_001905

caffeic acid

beeswax

propolis

contact allergy

Författare

Gunnar S.A. Nyman

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Mimmi Tang

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Annika Inerot

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Amra Osmancevic

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Per Malmberg

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Kemi och biokemi

Lina Hagvall

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Contact Dermatitis

0105-1873 (ISSN) 1600-0536 (eISSN)

Vol. 81 2 110-116

Ämneskategorier

Dermatologi och venereologi

Gastroenterologi

Reumatologi och inflammation

Infrastruktur

Infrastruktur för kemisk avbildning

DOI

10.1111/cod.13306

PubMed

31066083

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2020-04-14