Fish and shellfish allergy

Abstract

Fish and shellfish are important in the American diet and economy. Nearly $27 billion are spent each year in the United States on seafood products. Fish and shellfish are also important causes of food hypersensitivity. In fact, shellfish constitute the number one cause of food allergy in the American adult. During the past decade, much has been learned about allergens in fish and shellfish. The major allergens responsible for cross-reactivity among distinct species of fish and amphibians are parvalbumins. The major shellfish allergen has been identified as tropomyosin. Many new and important potential cross-reacting allergens have been identified within the fish family and between shellfish, arachnids, and insects. Extensive research is currently underway for the development of safer and more effective methods for the diagnosis and management of fish and shellfish hypersensitivity.

Characterization of Seafood Proteins Causing Allergic Diseases

“…The open reading frame of the cloned TM in invertebrates was reported to be 281-amino acids with a monomeric molecular weight ranging from 38-41 kDa. The highly conserved amino acid sequence of TM is responsible for its identification as a panallergen for cross-reactivity between crustaceans, insects, arachnids, and different classes of mollusks (Rodriguez et al, 1997;Wild & Lehrer, 2005). In addition, the allergenicity of TM was confirmed in six species of crustaceans: black tiger prawn, kuruma prawn, pink shrimp, king crab, snow crab, and horsehair crab by immunoblotting and the overall sequence identity showed more than 90% homology (Motoyama et al, 2007).…”

“…In the last few decades, a large movement toward healthier eating makes seafood one of the major foods consumed worldwide (Wild & Lehrer, 2005). Consequently, the international trade of seafood has been growing rapidly, which reflects the popularity and frequency of consumption worldwide.…”

“…Since seafood ingestion can cause severe acute hypersensitivity reactions and is recognized as one of the most common food allergies, the increased production and consumption of seafood has resulted in more frequent health problems (Lopata & Lehrer, 2009;Lopata et al, 2010). Exposure to seafood can cause a variety of health problems, including gastrointestinal disorders, urticaria, immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated asthma and anaphylaxis (Bang et al, 2005;Lopata & Lehrer, 2009;Malo & Cartier, 1993;Sicherer et al, 2004;Wild & Lehrer, 2005). A true allergy is known as type-one hypersensitivity that activates the human mast cells, a type of white blood cells, producing an IgE response as seen in Fig.…”

Vegetable Proteins: Non-sensitizing Encapsulation Agents for Bioactive Compounds

“…Thus, if the protein has a sequence identity from 54 to 63% with respect to human homologues, then it is considered as allergenic. Nevertheless, a higher identity does not implies allergenicity [27,28].…”

“…Parvalbumins are divided into α-and β-parvalbumin. The α-parvalbumin is considered to be non-allergenic, whereas β-parvalbumin is found in a variety of fish spe cies, retaining the allergenic potential and is absent in human muscle [28].…”