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Protein Contact Dermatitis

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology

  • 223 Accesses

Synonyms

Immediate contact skin reactions; Syndrome contact urticaria

Definition

The protein contact dermatitis (PCD) is an adverse immediate cutaneous reaction that occurs after the contact with certain substances.

Introduction

The protein contact dermatitis (PCD) is an entity characterized by the immediate skin development of itchy flares and dermatitis with erythema and vesicles after the contact with various substances, specially proteins or chemicals.

Protein contact dermatitis may be caused by both nonimmunologic (irritant) and immunologic (allergic) mechanisms.

It differs from contact urticaria (CU) in that CU refers to a wheal and flare reaction following external contact with a substance that clears completely within minutes or hours without signs.

Historical Background

In 1976, Hjorth and Roed-Petersen defined this term as characterizing an immediate dermatitis induced after contact with proteins in food caterers suffering an exacerbation of itch at few minutes after contact...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Division of Cutaneous Allergy, Hospital Sant Pau, Autonomous University, Barcelona, Spain

    Esther Serra Baldrich

Authors
  1. Esther Serra Baldrich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Esther Serra Baldrich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Ian R. Mackay

  2. Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Noel R. Rose

  3. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Dennis K. Ledford

  4. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Richard F. Lockey

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Baldrich, E.S. (2014). Protein Contact Dermatitis. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_445

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_445

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9193-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9194-1

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