Ackermann Leena, Aalto-Korte Kristiina, Jolanki Riitta, Alanko Kristiina
Helsinki University Central Hospital, Skin and Allergy Hospital and Clinic of Occupational Dermatology, Helsinki, Finland.
Contact Dermatitis. 2009 Feb;60(2):96-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0536.2008.01486.x.
The bark of the cinnamon tree is used as a spice; its flavour is from an essential oil containing mainly cinnamal.
To report new cases of occupational allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) from cinnamon and a novel case of airborne cinnamon contact allergy.
We examined the patient material of two dermatological clinics in Helsinki to find cinnamon contact allergic patients and review their clinical records.
We found six patients with delayed contact allergy to cinnamon. In four patients, cinnamon was the main cause of occupational ACD. Three of them had dermatitis on their hands and one patient on the face and neck. In the latter case, the exposure was shown to be airborne. In addition, the fifth patient was occupationally sensitized to cinnamon, but it was not the main cause of his hand dermatitis. In the sixth patient, cinnamon allergy was considered to derive from cross-allergy to fragrances. Five of the patients reacted to cinnamal separately and in fragrance mix I. None of the six patients had immediate-type cinnamon allergy.
Occupational contact allergy to cinnamon is rare but needs to be considered in workers handling foods. Cinnamal is possibly the main allergen in cinnamon.
肉桂树的树皮被用作香料；其香味来自一种主要含肉桂醛的精油。
报告新的肉桂所致职业性变应性接触性皮炎（ACD）病例及1例新的空气传播性肉桂接触过敏病例。
我们检查了赫尔辛基两家皮肤科诊所的患者资料，以找出肉桂接触过敏患者并查阅他们的临床记录。
我们发现6例对肉桂迟发性接触过敏的患者。4例患者中，肉桂是职业性ACD的主要病因。其中3例手部患皮炎，1例面部和颈部患皮炎。在后1例中，暴露途径为空气传播。此外，第5例患者职业性致敏于肉桂，但它并非其手部皮炎的主要病因。第6例患者的肉桂过敏被认为源自对香料的交叉过敏。6例患者中有5例分别对肉桂醛以及香料混合物Ⅰ起反应。6例患者均无速发型肉桂过敏。
职业性肉桂接触过敏虽罕见，但在处理食品的工人中需加以考虑。肉桂醛可能是肉桂中的主要变应原。
