Department of Immunology-Allergology-Rheumatology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp (Belgium) and Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium.
Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine, German Social Accident Insurance, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Occup Environ Med. 2019 Feb;76(2):78-82. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105302. Epub 2018 Dec 15.
Cannabis allergy has mainly been described following recreational use but some cases also point to cannabis sensitisation as a result of occupational exposure. As a consequence, little is known on the prevalence and clinical phenotype of occupational cannabis allergy. Therefore, this study aims to explore the allergy-associated health risks of occupational cannabis exposure in Belgian police force personnel.
81 participants, active in the police force, reporting regular occupational cannabis exposure during the past 12 months, were included. History was combined with a standardised questionnaire on allergies and cannabis exposure.Basophil activation tests (BATs) with a crude cannabis extract and rCan s 3 were performed. In addition, specific (s)IgE rCan s 3 as well as sIgE to house dust mite, six pollen and three mould allergens were quantified.
Although 42% of the participants reported respiratory and/or cutaneous symptoms on occupational cannabis exposure, all cannabis diagnostics were entirely negative, except one symptomatic case demonstrating a borderline result. Furthermore, there is no significant difference between the groups with and without symptoms on cannabis exposure in terms of allergenic sensitisations.
The origins of the reported respiratory and cutaneous symptoms during cannabis exposure remain elusive but are probably due to non-immune reactions. It should be noted that the study was volunteer-based possibly reflecting an excessive number of symptomatic individuals. Nevertheless, as only one participant reported using fully protective gear, much improvement is needed for reducing the number of symptoms reported on duty, independent of their origin.
大麻过敏主要发生在娱乐性使用后，但也有一些病例表明，大麻致敏是职业暴露的结果。因此，人们对职业性大麻过敏的患病率和临床表型知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在探讨比利时警察部队人员职业性大麻暴露的过敏相关健康风险。
共纳入 81 名在警察部队工作、报告过去 12 个月内定期职业性接触大麻的参与者。病史与过敏和大麻暴露的标准化问卷相结合。使用粗大麻提取物和 rCan s 3 进行嗜碱性粒细胞激活试验 (BATs)。此外，还定量检测了特异性 (s)IgE rCan s 3 以及屋尘螨、6 种花粉和 3 种霉菌过敏原的 sIgE。
尽管 42%的参与者报告在职业性接触大麻时出现呼吸道和/或皮肤症状，但所有大麻检测均为阴性，除了一例有症状的病例显示边界结果。此外，在有症状和无症状的大麻暴露组之间，过敏致敏情况没有显著差异。
报告的大麻接触时的呼吸道和皮肤症状的原因仍不清楚，但可能是由于非免疫反应引起的。值得注意的是，该研究是基于志愿者的，可能反映了过多的有症状个体。然而，由于只有一名参与者报告使用了完全防护装备，因此需要大量改进，以减少报告在值勤时出现的症状数量，无论其来源如何。
