FIGURE 1. Retrospective survey of locust allergy in a cohort of 94 subjects in a locust laboratory from 2000 to 2019.
A, Number and percentage of subjects allergic to locust (male, female and total). B, Symptoms of locust allergy in subjects (male, female and total). Patients with locust allergy simultaneously had several symptoms.
FIGURE 2. Cross-sectional survey of locust allergy in a cohort of 57 subjects in a locust laboratory in 2020.
A, Number of subjects allergic to locust (males, females and total). B, Suspected allergic disorders to locust in subjects (males, females and total). C, Effect of other allergic histories on occupational allergies to locusts. D, ROC curve of interval exposure and continuous exposure.
FIGURE 3. Identification of the sensitization of individuals exposed to locusts.
A, Measurement of sIgE for locust protein by ELISA. P values < 0.05 were considered significant. B and C, sIgE immunoblotting. B, Lane 1, protein marker. Lane 2, SDS-PAGE of locust protein. Lane 3, immunoblotting with serum pool from 10 locust-allergic subjects. Lane 4, pooled sera from 10 control subjects. C, Lane 1, protein marker. Lane 2, SDS-PAGE of locust protein. Lanes 3-11, immunoblotting with individual sera from locust-allergic subjects. Lane 12, pooled sera from 10 control subjects.
FIGURE 4. Hexamerin-2 protein mass analysis, purification, peptide matches and conserved domains.
A, SDS-PAGE of the purified hexameirn-2 protein. Lane 1, protein marker. Lane 2, SDS-PAGE of the hexamerin-2 protein. B, Mature protein sequence, peptides verified by the mass spectrum fingerprint are shown in red and highlighted (NCBI accession ACU78069.1). C. Three domains of the hexamerin-2 protein analysed against the NCBI database: hemocyanin-N domain, hemocyanin-M domain, hemocyanin-C domain.
FIGURE 5. Identification of the sensitization of individuals exposed to the hexamerin-2 protein.
A, Measurement of sIgE for the hexamerin-2 protein by ELISA. B, Hexamerin-2 protein sIgE immunoblotting. Lane 1, protein marker. Lane 2, SDS-PAGE of the hexamerin-2 protein. Lanes 3-11, Immunoblotting with pooled sera from 9 locust-allergic subjects. Lane 12, pooled sera from 10 control subjects. C and D, Examination of serum IgE reactivity to the hexamerin-2 protein by competitive ELISA, representing the serum from locust-allergic patients P2 and P3, respectively. P values < 0.05 were considered significant.