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Relationship between formaldehyde and quaternium‐15 contact allergy. Influence of strength of patch test reactions
Author(s) -
De Groot Anton C.,
Blok Janine,
Coenraads PieterJan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0536.2010.01712.x
Subject(s) - formaldehyde , patch test , contact allergy , allergy , medicine , etiology , reactivity (psychology) , dermatology , contact dermatitis , chemistry , immunology , organic chemistry , pathology , alternative medicine
Background: In groups of patients with formaldehyde allergy, many have positive patch tests to quaternium‐15. Conversely, of patients allergic to quaternium‐15, over half also react to formaldehyde. Objectives: To test our hypothesis that patients with stronger patch test reactions to formaldehyde are more likely to react to quaternium‐15, attesting to the aetiological role for formaldehyde in such co‐reactivity. Methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients patch tested with formaldehyde and quaternium‐15 in the European baseline series between 1994 and 2009 (TRUE test ® ). Results: In a group of 86 patients allergic to formaldehyde, 73% co‐reacted to quaternium‐15; in the subgroup of 70 women, the percentage was 83. In both groups, more reactions were observed to quaternium‐15 in the patients with a ++ reaction compared to the patients with a + reaction to formaldehyde. Conversely, stronger reactions to quaternium‐15 were significantly more often associated with formaldehyde sensitivity in a group of 107 patients reacting to quaternium‐15 and a subgroup of 88 women. In men, such effects were not observed and only 5 of 16 (31%) men allergic to formaldehyde also reacted to quaternium‐15. Conclusions: In women, but not in men, stronger reactions to formaldehyde lead to more positive quaternium‐15 patch tests.