Abstract
Genetically modified (GM) foods are evaluated carefully for their ability to induce allergic disease. However, few studies have tested the capacity of a GM food to act as an adjuvant, i.e. influencing allergic responses to other unrelated allergens at acute onset and in individuals with pre-existing allergy. We sought to evaluate the effect of short-term feeding of GM Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-maize (MON810) on the initiation and relapse of allergic asthma in mice. BALB/c mice were provided a diet containing 33% GM or non-GM maize for up to 34 days either before ovalbumin (OVA)-induced experimental allergic asthma or disease relapse in mice with pre-existing allergy. We observed that GM-maize feeding did not affect OVA-induced eosinophilic airway and lung inflammation, mucus hypersecretion or OVA-specific antibody production at initiation or relapse of allergic asthma. There was no adjuvant effect upon GM-maize consumption on the onset or severity of allergic responses in a mouse model of allergic asthma.
Highlights
The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants has increased dramatically worldwide and is correlated with a concomitant rise in GM containing foods for animal and human consumption
Upon examination of airway differential counts, we found that mice fed GM (2345066256 cells/ml) and nGM (27384611804 cells/ml) diets had significantly higher numbers of eosinophils compared to almost none in naıve mice and that only nGM-fed mice were statistically higher (p, 0.05) compared with basal diet-fed mice (27322610035 cells/ml)
Some investigators suggest that Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-maize may have an adjuvant effect that requires testing [17,18,19,20,26,27,28,29,30]
Summary
The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants has increased dramatically worldwide and is correlated with a concomitant rise in GM containing foods for animal and human consumption. Most studies have shown that GM food containing Bt are safe for human and animal consumption [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. There are a few reports demonstrating adverse effects under certain conditions in livestock and animal models [12,13]. Cry1Ab has no homology to allergenic proteins [14] and when tested in maize-sensitive individuals, extracts of MON810 or pure Cry1Ab did not cause reactions in skin prick tests or induce IgE [15]. In related GM food experiments, rats fed Bt-rice for 28 or 90 days had no adverse immune effects [16]
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