Making Milk Less Allergenic

Abstract

The formation of stable aggregates by food proteins is associated with allergenicity. In particular, amyloid formation by the fish allergen parvalbumin was recently shown to favor IgE binding and subsequent allergic recognition. Therefore, reducing amyloid content in an allergenic food might offer a direct way to make that food less likely to trigger an allergy. In this project, protein aggregation and amyloid formation were studied in milk using gel electrophoresis and fluorescence-based assays. The results suggested that ordinary pasteurized milk from the grocery store contained protein aggregates and specifically amyloid. Processing the milk as normally done during food preparation did not appreciably affect general aggregation or amyloid formation. However, the addition of some polyphenol-containing food products to the milk appeared to result in reduced amyloid levels. Moreover, cranberry juice also appeared to reduce amyloid formation by the milk protein casein. These results suggest that the addition of cranberry or other polyphenol-rich foods to milk products for young children may reduce the risk of milk allergy development by diminishing protein aggregation.