Patterns of concomitant allergic reactions in patients suggest cross-sensitization between octylisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone.

BACKGROUND: Recent animal tests have indicated cross-reactivity between methylisothiazolinone (MI), octylisothiazolinone (OIT), and benzisothiazolinone (BIT).

OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively analyse concomitant reactions to different isothiazolinones in patients in an occupational dermatology clinic during the ongoing MI contact allergy epidemic.

METHODS: We searched patch test files (January 2012 to February 2017) for patients with allergic reactions to OIT, BIT, and MI, and analysed their patch test results, occupations, exposure, and diagnoses.

RESULTS: We found 61 (9.4%) allergic reactions to MI, 19 (2.9%) reactions to OIT and 9 (1.4%) reactions to BIT in a total of 647 consecutively tested patients. Seventeen (89%) of the OIT-positive patients had concomitant reactions to MI, whereas only 3 (33%) BIT-positive patients had allergic reactions to MI. The MI reactions in OIT-positive patients were almost exclusively extreme reactions (+++). Exposure to OIT was identified in 26% of the OIT-positive patients, and 56% of the BIT-positive patients had been exposed to BIT.

CONCLUSIONS: Allergic reactions to OIT were strongly associated with extreme reactions to MI, which suggests cross-sensitization. In contrast, BIT reactions were mostly independent.