We investigated the effects of different types of heat treatments on hen’s egg white (HEw) and quail egg white (QEw) proteins and their cross-reactivity in young children. Crude extracts of raw and water-boiled HEw and QEw and commercially developed stone-baked HEw were prepared. Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was then performed. Patients diagnosed with HEw allergy were enrolled, and pooled sera were tested with each extract in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-inhibition test. A skin prick test (SPT) and oral food challenge (OFC) were also performed. The median age of 12 patients was 2.5 years. SDS-PAGE results revealed strongly stained bands for the ovomucoid of boiled HEw and QEw, while stone-baked HEw displayed remarkable changes for all protein fractions. In the ELISA-inhibition test, pre-incubation of the sera led to a profound decrease, moderate decrease, and minimal decrease in the amount of IgE binding to boiled and raw HEw, boiled and raw QEw, and stone-baked HEw proteins, respectively. SPTs and OFC demonstrated cross-reactivity values of 41.7% (5/12) and 16.7% (2/12) for boiled QEw and stone-baked HEw, respectively. We observed moderate cross-reactivity between QEw and HEw. Boiling had a limited effect on altering egg allergenicity. Commercially developed, stone-baked HEw can be an alternative food for children with HE allergy.

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Background Perilla seeds have been shown to cause immediate allergic reactions. However, reports on perilla seed allergies are limited to a few case reports, and there is currently no diagnostic test for such allergies. Our objective was to analyze the clinical and immunological characteristics of perilla seed allergy and to identify allergens for the development of diagnostic methods. Methods Twenty-two children with clinical perilla seed allergy were enrolled from two tertiary hospitals between September 2016 and June 2019. Using perilla seed extract, we developed a skin prick test (SPT) reagent and an IgE enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for perilla seed allergy diagnosis. IgE immunoblotting was performed for identifying putative allergenic components, and amino acid composition analysis was performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results The median age of children with perilla seed allergy was 3 years, and the proportion of children with anaphylaxis was 31.8%. Perilla seed SPT was performed for 16 of 22 children, all of whom tested positive. On ELISA, 86.4% of children tested positive for perilla seed-specific IgE. Proteins with molecular weights of 50, 31–35, and 14–16 kDa showed binding with the sera of >50% of children with perilla seed allergy. LC-MS/MS analysis of these three protein fractions indicated 8 putative proteins, including perilla oleosin (Accession No. 9963891), to be allergens. Conclusion We reported the clinical characteristics and immunological profiles of 22 children with perilla seed allergy and suggested oleosin as one of the major allergens in perilla seeds.

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