NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new case series from Australia links goat-milk allergy to previous use of skincare products containing goat milk.
"We undertook some studies that showed that the allergic antibodies (Immunoglobulin E or IgE), that cause the allergic reactions to goat's milk in the blood of the patients, also bound to the goat's milk proteins contained in skincare soap and lotion," Dr. Jo Douglass of Royal Melbourne Hospital told Reuters Health by email.
"These laboratory studies strengthen the link between the development of severe food allergy to goat and sheep milks in our patients and the skincare products," she said, "suggesting that the skincare products are responsible for the allergy."
In a research letter in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy, Dr. Douglass and her colleagues describe clinical features and lab findings from seven patients with goat-milk allergy. The patients were selected via a retrospective audit of all cases at Royal Melbourne Hospital's Pathology Department between 2016 and 2019 for which the measurement of goat and/or sheep milk specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) reached at least 0.35 kUA/L.
Following a review of the patients' medical records, they were invited to submit to additional skin testing and blood work, as well as control evaluations for allergic responses to cow milk and rye grass pollen.
