Effects of Pressure and Thermal Processing on Cashew and Pistachio in vitro Allergic Reactivity

Abstract

RATIONALE: Patients can be allergic to multiple substances due to IgEmediated recognition of similar epitopes on proteins from different sources. We applied cluster-detection techniques to food-allergic patient data to detect groups of cross-reactive allergens. Such groupings will be useful for patient-classification, diagnosis, treatment and discovery. METHODS: Skin prick test (SPT) results were obtained for confirmed food-allergic patients, for allergens common to Mediterranean areas. Patients/allergens with much missing data were excluded. Cluster analysis was performed using R/Cytoscape. Similarity was calculated using binary distance metrics. Patient self-reporting data was also obtained. RESULTS: Following exclusion, 525 participants and 45 agents were analysed. The allergens giving rise to the most positive SPT results were olive pollen, peach, tree-nuts/peanuts, grasses and house-dust mites. Cluster analysis found that similar allergen-sources tended to group together, including fruits, mites, nuts, dander, trees, weeds and grasses. Comparison with self-reported previous reactions showed high overlap, albeit with notable exceptions including lentils and sesame seeds. The choice of distance metric and clustering method influenced cluster-building. CONCLUSIONS: SPT analysis reveals patterns of co-reactivity between allergens. This information can aid diagnosis and suggest which allergensources to avoid. It can also guide studies of panallergens and epitope mapping. However, the choice of metric to calculate similarity is important: given the predominance of negative data, assymetric metrics are advised. Future work will investigate other geographical areas and patient IgE levels.

Influence of Instant Controlled Pressure Drop (DIC) on Allergenic Potential of Tree Nuts

“…Regarding the bands compatible with legumins, they tend to disappear in DIC8, although not in all cases, in patients 3, 4 and 11 the possible acid and basic subunits of Ana o 2 are still detected. Patterns similar to those obtained in this study have been observed by Blanco et al [31] also using sera from Spanish patients, in the case of pistachio 13-33 kDa proteins were detected and in the case of cashew nut around 19-50 kDa. In previous studies, in which reactivity against IgE in pistachio and cashew flours was evaluated using individual sera of North American origin, individual differences were also observed in each of the immunological patterns [16].…”

Influence of Instant Controlled Pressure Drop (DIC) on Allergenic Potential of Tree Nuts

“…Patterns similar to those obtained in this study have been observed by Blanco et al [31] also using sera from Spanish patients; in the case of pistachio, 13-33 kDa proteins were detected, and in the case of cashew nut around 19-50 kDa were. In previous studies, in which reactivity against IgE in pistachio and cashew flours was evaluated using individual sera of North American origin, individual differences were also observed in each of the immunological patterns [16].…”

Influence of Instant Controlled Pressure Drop (DIC) on Allergenic Potential of Tree Nuts

“…Patterns similar to those obtained in this study have been observed by Blanco et al [37] also using sera from Spanish patients, in the case of pistachio 13-33 kDa proteins were detected and in the case of cashew nut around 19-50 kDa . However, the clear difference in immunoreactivity level and pattern of reactive bands against IgE in the different patients is remarkable.…”