Fish and seafood allergy

Seafood including fish and shellfish is commonly consumed. These foods are also elicitors of allergic reactions in sensitized patients. Seafood allergy tends to persist during life time. Clinical reactions vary from mild to severe anaphylaxis upon consumption, skin contact or inhalations of seafood allergens. Cross-reactions between fish and shellfish have not been reported but fish allergic patients experience mostly clinical cross-reactivity to many fish species as well as shellfish-allergic subjects develop often symptoms upon ingestion of crustacean and mollusks. Important fish allergens are parvalbumins, enolases and aldolases. Relevant shellfish allergens were identified as tropomyosins, arginine kinases, sarcoplasmic calcium-bindung proteins and myosin light chains. This review summarizes the clinical characteristics and diagnosis of seafood allergy, the properties of seafood allergens as well as the perspectives for diagnosis and treatment.