Abstract
Shellfish allergy is a major cause of food-induced anaphylaxis, but the allergens are not well characterized. This study examined the effects of heating on blue swimmer crab (Portunus pelagicus) allergens in comparison with those of black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) by testing reactivity with shellfish-allergic subjects' serum IgE. Cooked extracts of both species showed markedly increased IgE reactivity by ELISA and immunoblotting, and clinical relevance of IgE reactivity was confirmed by basophil activation tests. Inhibition IgE ELISA and immunoblotting demonstrated cross-reactivity between the crab and prawn extracts, predominantly due to tropomyosin, but crab-specific IgE-reactivity was also observed. The major blue swimmer crab allergen tropomyosin, Por p 1, was cloned and sequenced, showing strong homology with tropomyosin of other crustacean species but also sequence variation within known and predicted linear IgE epitopes. These findings will advance more reliable diagnosis and management of potentially severe food allergy due to crustaceans.
Highlights
Shellfish play an important role in human nutrition and health, but can provoke serious IgE-mediated adverse reactions in susceptible individuals
For cooked crab (CC) and cooked prawn (CP) extracts, the outer shell was kept during the heating process (20 minutes immersed in boiling PBS) before removal and extract preparation as above
Other bands were observed at positions consistent with the known shellfish allergens arginine kinase (
Summary
Shellfish play an important role in human nutrition and health, but can provoke serious IgE-mediated adverse reactions in susceptible individuals. In the few studies characterizing shellfish allergens to date, including our own, one of the most frequently recognized (major) allergens of species in both shellfish phyla is the abundant muscle protein tropomyosin (TM) [7,8,9,10,11]. Patients frequently report clinical reactions to more than one shellfish species, but whether this is a result of multiple sensitivities or from IgE cross-reactivity between allergens of different shellfish species is unknown [5,16]. This information is vital for optimal management of shellfish allergy
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