There is little knowledge about the factors that determine the allergenicity of food proteins. One aspect that remains to be elucidated is the effect of the food matrix on immune responses to food proteins. To study the intrinsic immunogenicity of allergens and the influence of the food matrix, purified peanut allergens (Ara h 1, Ara h 2, Ara h 3, or Ara h 6) and a whole peanut extract (PE) wer...

The French Observatory of Food Quality (Oqali) aims at collecting all nutritional data provided on labels of processed foods (nutritional information and composition), at branded products level, in order to follow nutritional labeling changes over time. This study carries out an overview of allergens labeling frequencies by distinguishing allergens used in recipes from those listed on precautio...

Allergic diseases are considered the epidemics of the twentieth century estimated to affect more than 30% of the population in industrialized countries with a still increasing incidence. During the past two decades, the application of molecular biology allowed cloning, production and characterization of hundreds of recombinant allergens. In turn, knowledge about molecular, chemical and biologic...

Exposure to indoor allergens is an important risk factor for sensitisation and respiratory allergy. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the levels of mite, cat and latex allergens in dust collected from an indoor workplace and to assess whether the exposure to these allergens was associated with the allergy symptoms reported by employees. Sixty dust samples were collected. Allergen concentrat...

investigated by immunoblot with serum from individuals sensitized to anisakis or shrimp. IgE binding patterns in the immunoblots were used for the identification of major Anisakis allergens, which were analysed by mass spectrometry-based proteomics in ESI-Orbitrap, after separation on SDS-gel. Results: Four new allergen candidates were identified. The first identified allergen was enolase, whic...

BACKGROUND Hidden allergens in foods can induce allergic reactions. Currently it is not possible to estimate the exact prevalence of these reactions but they are clearly a growing problem. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the role of hidden allergens (their importance, the types of food involved, and the severity of reactions) in allergic reactions in our geog...

Cockroach allergens can lead to serious allergy and asthma symptoms. Termites are evolutionarily related to cockroaches, cohabitate in human dwellings, and represent an increasing pest problem in the United States. The Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus) is one of the most common species in the southern United States. Several assays were used to determine if C. formosanus ter...

BACKGROUND The mould Alternaria alternata is an important source of respiratory allergens. A. alternata extracts show great variations regarding allergenic potency. The aim of this study was to generate antibody probes specific for important Alternaria allergens and to use them to study allergen expression, depending on different culture conditions, as well as to search for cross-reactive aller...

Background Birch pollen-allergic subjects often develop Bet v 1-specific IgE that cross-reacts with homologous food allergens. Bet v 1 and its homologs in pollen and food display exclusively conformational epitopes. We established a system to specifically analyze epitope cross-reactivity of Bet v 1-related allergens. The enzyme norcoclaurine synthase (NCS) from Thalictrum flavum is structurally...

Methods Monoclonal human IgE antibodies specific for the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1 and for the major grass pollen allergen Phl p 5 and the corresponding allergens as well as a hybrid protein consisting of the Bet v 1 and Phl p 5 allergens were expressed. Using circular dichroism spectroscopy we compared the fold of the hybrid protein with that of the mixture of the two allergens. Rat ...