Experimental study of contact dermatitis due to alstroemeria in guinea pigs

Contact allergy from handling alstroemeria (Alstroemeria) has been widely observed in horticulturalists and florists (1–5). α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone (α-MBL) has been shown to be the causative agent (6, 7). In the present study, delayed-type contact dermatitis due to alstroemeria was evaluated using the guinea pig maximization test (GMT) (8), and the intensity of allergic reactions was investigated by quantifying the contents of α-MBL in different parts of alstroemeria by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (9).