Snippets

Dear all

Detailed minutes from the recent committee meeting will be published on the website.

1) Dates for diaries
BSCA Update meeting – 7th May 2021 combined with the Dowling club meeting, online.
BAD Annual Meeting 6-8 July 2021 (BSCA Meeting Tuesday 6th July 2021), online.
ESCD Congress – 8th-10th June 2022, Amsterdam.

2) Series updates
Our last snippet detailed the addition of tree moss absolute (Evernia furfuracea), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (2-HEMA), linalool hydroperoxide 1% & 0.5% pet, limonene hydroperoxide 0.3% & 0.2% pet and finally benzisothiazolinone (BIT) 0.1% pet and octylisothiazolinone (OIT) 0.1% pet to the British standard series. Further new additions to the standard series:

Decyl glucoside 5% pet. & Lauryl glucoside 3% pet
Alkyl glucosides are a family of mild non-ionic surfactants (1). They are completely biodegradable and considered less irritant and less allergenic than anionic surfactants and have therefore regained favour in recent years (1,2).

They have cleaning, foaming and emulsifying properties. They are found in rinse-off products such as shower gels, shampoos, soaps, cleansers and hair dyes, and in leave-on cosmetics such as sunscreens, fragrances, tanning products, emollients, deodorants and baby products including wipes.

There has been a steady increase in the frequency of sensitization since the first described case in 2003, with alkyl glucosides named “Allergen of the Year” in 2017 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society (2). Allergic Contact Dermatitis (ACD) induced by alkyl glucosides is known to be more common in patients with a history of atopy (2).

Decyl glucoside is the most common alkyl glucoside causing ACD. Patch testing to multiple glucosides is recommended, where allergy is suspected, as concomitant reactions with other alkyl glucosides cannot be relied upon to detect sensitisation (1). There have been multiple reports of ACD caused by decyl glucoside in the sunscreen ingredient Tinosorb M (organic UV filter) (2). Alkyl glucosides have also been identified as culprit allergens in wound dressings (2).

Soriano and colleagues investigated the frequency of contact allergy to decyl glucoside and lauryl glucoside in consecutive patients in the UK and Ireland and presented relatively high positive patch tests to these glucosides (1.6% & 1.8% respectively) along with frequent irritant reactions (2.2% & 2.0% respectively) (Data presented at the BAD annual meeting 2020). Concomitant reactions between the two occurred in less than half of patients (3).

3) Winners of the BSCA presentation and poster awards from the virtual BAD annual 2020 meeting:

(a) Presentation Joint Winner: Dr S. Arianayagam. Updating the British Association of Cutaneous Allergy medicament series: just what the doctor ordered (£100)

(b) Presentation Joint Winner: Dr S. Morrow. Out with the old and in with the new? Getting the British Society for Cutaneous Allergy corticosteroid series up to scratch (£100)

(c) Poster Winner: Dr Y. Khan. Immediate and delayed hypersensitivity reaction to para-phenylenediamine (£50)

References
(1) Bhoyrul B, Solman L, Kirk S, Orton D, Wilkinson M. Patch testing with alkyl glucosides: Concomitant reactions are common but not ubiquitous. Contact Dermatitis. 2019;80:286-290.
(2) Monteiro A, Paulino M, Maquina A, Amaro C, Viana I. Allergic contact dermatitis to decyl glucoside: Still an important allergen in Tinosorb M. Contact Dermatitis.2020;82:126-128.
(3) LF Soriano, CG Bertram, MMU Chowdhury, P Cousen, P Divekar, SA Ghaffar, C Green, A Havelin, CR Holden, GA Johnston, AA Mughal, E Nic Dhonncha, RA Sabroe, NM Stone, DA Thompson, M Wilkinson, DA Buckley. Prevalence of allergic contact dermatitis to decyl and lauryl glucoside in the UK and Ireland. Br J Dermatol. 2020 Oct 14. doi: 10.1111/bjd.19603. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33090453.