An Unusual Case of Multiple Food Allergies Comorbid with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Case Report

Abstract

Purpose

To report the case of a patient with multiple food allergies comorbid with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) who was misdiagnosed on various occasions, resulting in a negative impact on the patient’s personal and social life.

Case Report

We present the case of a 43-year-old Colombian women with multiple food allergies concomitant with MCS. Symptoms started with a mild reaction to insecticides, car exhaust smoke, and perfumes and gradually evolved into a severe reaction to her environment. She also presented recurrent episodes of clinical reactivity to foods and persistent elevated IgE levels, as well as several life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. Alternative and allopathic therapies were applied, but her symptoms persisted. Various diagnoses were made before the definitive diagnosis.

Conclusion

MCS is an unusual entity of unknown pathophysiology that can, on rare occasions, coexist with food allergies. Early recognition and multidisciplinary treatment are required as these entities have a major impact on the patient’s quality of life. We present the first Latin American case regarding the association of the two diseases.

Keywords:

• type I hypersensitivity
• idiopathic environmental intolerance
• environmental exposure
• food allergy

Abbreviations

CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome; Treg cells, Regulatory T cells; MCS, multiple chemical sensitivity; BMI, body mass index; QEESI, Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory; HEAD, head-related symptoms; COG, cognitive symptoms; AFF, affective symptoms; NM, neuromuscular symptoms; MS, musculoskeletal symptoms; SKIN, skin-related symptoms; GU, genitourinary symptoms; GI, gastrointestinal symptoms; COR, heart/chest-related symptoms; AIR/MM, airway or mucous membrane symptoms.

Declaration of Patient Consent

The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate written patient consent forms. In the form, the patient gave consent for the images and clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patient understands that her name and initials will not be published, and all due efforts will be made to conceal her identity. This report required institutional approval to publish the case details and was approved by Universidad del Rosario’s ethical committee under the reference DVO005 1475-CV1375.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the patient for granting permission to publish this information. We would also like to thank the Universidad del Rosario for financing the proofreading this manuscript and the Enago Group for the English edition.

Author Contributions

All authors significantly contributed to the reported study, whether in the conception, study design, execution, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation. All authors participated in the drafting, revising, and critical review of the article, gave their final approval for the version to be published, agreed on the journal to which the article was to be submitted, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this work.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received to create this report.