Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32624562›Full record

ArticleLa Medicina del lavoro2020

Occupational asthma and rhinitis due to wheat flour: sublingual specific immunotherapy treatment.

Marco Dubini, Paolo Marraccini, David M Brass, Lorenzo Patrini, Luciano Riboldi

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in La Medicina del lavoro, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Occupational Respiratory Allergy to Flour in the Modern Era.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2025
    Review
  2. Occupational Rhinitis: An Update.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2023
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Marco DubiniDepartment of Preventive and Occupational Medicine, Division of Environmental and Occupational Allergy, IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Foundation; University of Milan, Italy. marco.dubini@unimi.it.
Paolo MarracciniDepartment of Preventive and Occupational Medicine, Division of Environmental and Occupational Allergy, IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Foundation, Milan, Italy. paolo.marraccini@policlinico.mi.it.
David M BrassDepartment of Medicine, Pulmonary Division, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27707. david.brass@duke.edu.
Lorenzo PatriniDepartment of Preventive and Occupational Medicine, IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Foundation, Milan, Italy. lorenzo.patrini@policlinico.mi.it.
Luciano RiboldiDepartment of Preventive and Occupational Medicine, IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Foundation, Milan, Italy. luciano.riboldi@unimi.it.
Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico · ITDuke Medical Center · USUniversity of Milan · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere are several potential sensitizers in the bakery environment and wheat flour appears to be the dominant sensitizer in most bakeries. Apart from traditional drug therapy or a change in profession, there are no effective therapies for workers who develop serious respiratory symptoms in the workplace.

objectivesTo describe clinical and laboratory findings in workers with asthma and/or rhinitis induced by wheat flour who underwent sublingual specific immunotherapy (SLIT).

methodsSince drug therapy and prevention strategies were not effective, five bakers were elected to undergo SLIT. A three-year study was led by administering a sublingual wheat flour extract. Questionnaires, allergy and respiratory tests were performed before and after SLIT.

resultsAfter SLIT an improvement in symptoms is observed in every patient: Asthma Control Test and a quality-of-life questionnaire show higher scores and as a result, workers have reduced the use of drug therapy. We observed significantly reduced exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels after SLIT, hypothesizing that these parameters may be used to monitor the effectiveness of immunotherapy. The improvement of FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1second) and responsiveness to bronchoprovocative tests with methacholine denotes a possible role of SLIT in treating patients with low-respiratory tract involvement, even though more data are needed. DISCUSSIONS: This is the first report in the literature on the use of SLIT for baker's asthma and rhinitis. SLIT for occupational wheat flour allergy should be possible and efficient, saving vocational training, professionalism, and avoiding job loss.

Indexed as

Asthma, OccupationalImmunotherapyOccupational DiseasesRhinitisFlourHumansTriticum

Identifiers

PMID32624562
PMCPMC7809951
OpenAlexW3039205013

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.