Allergy - Water Melon Citrullus Lanatus Test

Allergies to watermelon are not very common but are mainly associated with symptoms of the oral allergy syndrome. In some cases, cutaneous and respiratory symptoms have also been reported. It has also been confirmed that those with watermelon allergies may also have sensitization to melon, cucumber, pumpkin, and zucchini, which are the members of the Cucurbitaceae family, the same family to which watermelon belongs. For this type of allergy, watermelon Citrullus lanatus IgE test is used. Generally in vitro allergy testing is used for allergy diagnosis.

The patient should keep in mind that he/she should not have multiple patient encounters before and after the test. All the desired specimen tubes or kits should be collected in time. The serum collected from the patients should be separated from the cells immediately or within 2 hours of collection. After the collection and separation of the serum, they should be refrigerated for at least 2 weeks.

The result of this test is determined by the Immuno CAP Quantitative Scoring Guide. If the IgE level is less than 0.10Ku/L then the results are negative. If the IgE level is between 0.10 to 3.49Ku/L then the results are between low to medium positive. If the IgE level is between 3.5 to 17.49Ku/L and above, then the allergy is highly positive. This test not only gives a glance to the allergies pertaining to watermelon but also it determines whether there are any allergies associated with melon, cucumber or pumpkin.

1-2 ML sample of blood is collected in a test tube. After the collection of the sample, 0.5 ml of serum is centrifuged and transferred to a transfer tube. The sample is then to be refrigerated or frozen for at least 2 weeks and then it is shipped. Specimens are stable for 4 weeks if refrigerated or ambient. If they are needed for a longer duration, they need to be frozen.