The role of skin inflammation, barrier dysfunction, and oral tolerance in skin sensitization to gluten-derived hydrolysates in a rat model.

Background: Adverse reactions to wheat-containing skin care products have been linked to food allergy development.

Objectives: To determine the role of skin barrier dysfunction and inflammation in sensitization to gluten-derived hydrolysates via the skin in Brown Norway rats with and without oral tolerance to wheat.

Methods: Skin barrier defect was induced by mechanical disruption, and skin inflammation was induced by topical application of SLS or MC903.

Risk of consuming products with or without precautionary wheat or gluten labelling for persons with coeliac disease.

Persons with Coeliac disease (CD) need to keep a lifelong diet without gluten and therefore need to know which foods are safe to eat. The objective of this study was to analyse ordinary foods products without gluten containing ingredients (PWG) with or without the precautionary allergen statement (PAL) "May contain wheat/gluten" or similar wording and use these data to perform a probabilistic risk assessment. Foods with and without PAL were analysed for gluten.

Acid Hydrolysis of Gluten Enhances the Skin Sensitizing Potential and Drives Diversification of IgE Reactivity to Unmodified Gluten Proteins.

Scope: Personal care products containing hydrolyzed gluten have been linked to spontaneous sensitization through the skin, however the impact of the hydrolysate characteristics on the sensitizing capacity is generally unknown.

Methods And Results: The physicochemical properties of five different wheat-derived gluten products (one unmodified, one enzyme hydrolyzed, and three acid hydrolyzed) are investigated, and the skin sensitizing capacity is determined in allergy-prone Brown Norway rats. Acid hydrolyzed gluten products exhibited the strongest intrinsic sensitizing capacity via the skin.

The use of aluminium hydroxide as adjuvant modulates the specific antibody response-A Brown Norway rat study with native and denatured cow's milk allergens.

There is a need for efficient methods to treat food allergy; however, no immunotherapeutic method has yet been satisfactory due to the high rate of unpredictable severe reactions and the limited efficacy. Therefore, modified versions of food allergens have been suggested as alternatives to the parent proteins for immunotherapy. The aim of the study was to compare the inherent allergenicity of the native and denatured version of the cow's milk proteins β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin, and to study the impact of the use of Al(OH) as an adjuvant.

Gluten tolerance prevents oral sensitization with enzymatic or acid hydrolyzed gluten: A study in Brown Norway rats.

Background: There are several reports describing allergy to hydrolyzed wheat products. After a large outbreak in Japan it was established that sensitization was caused by skin contact with acid hydrolyzed gluten in soap. It is still not clear if other forms of hydrolyzed gluten may sensitize, and if the skin is the only relevant route of sensitization in humans and to what extent oral tolerance to wheat play a role.

Defining the targets for the assessment of IgE-mediated allergenicity of new or modified food proteins.

Many food innovations rely on the introduction and use of new or modified proteins. New or modified food proteins may lead to major health risks due to their inherent potential to cause food allergy. Currently, the pre-market allergenicity assessment for new or modified food proteins and protein sources relies on methods for identifying allergenic hazards based on characteristics of known allergens.

Preclinical Brown Norway Rat Models for the Assessment of Infant Formulas in the Prevention and Treatment of Cow's Milk Allergy.

Background: Infant formulas (IFs) based on hydrolysed cow's milk proteins are central in the management of cow's milk allergy (CMA) in infants and small children. New IF compositions with improved prevention and treatment properties are needed, along with appropriate preclinical animal models, to evaluate these properties before introduction into humans.

Objectives: We aimed to develop preclinical models for the assessment of the primary preventive and desensitising capacity of cow's milk IF in allergy-prone, high-IgE responder Brown Norway rats.

An Animal Model for Wheat Allergy Skin Sensitisation: A Comparative Study in Naive versus Tolerant Brown Norway Rats.

Background: Allergic sensitisation to foods may occur in infancy without prior oral exposure to the offending food, leading to the assumption that food allergy sensitisation may occur through the skin. Concerns have been raised regarding the safety of use of personal care products containing hydrolysed wheat proteins, since these products have been shown to induce allergy through the skin, and even cause an abrogation of an already established oral tolerance.

Objective: To establish an animal model for food allergy skin sensitisation and compare the sensitising capacity of an unmodified and an acid-hydrolysed gluten product via slightly damaged skin in naïve versus tolerant rats.

Food Allergens: Is There a Correlation between Stability to Digestion and Allergenicity?

Food allergy is a major health problem in the Western countries, affecting 3-8% of the population. It has not yet been established what makes a dietary protein a food allergen. Several characteristics have been proposed to be shared by food allergens.

The impact of structural integrity and route of administration on the antibody specificity against three cow's milk allergens - a study in Brown Norway rats.

Background: Characterisation of the specific antibody response, including the epitope binding pattern, is an essential task for understanding the molecular mechanisms of food allergy. Examination of antibody formation in a controlled environment requires animal models. The purpose of this study was to examine the amount and types of antibodies raised against three cow's milk allergens; β-lactoglobulin (BLG), α-lactalbumin (ALA) and β-casein upon oral or intraperitoneal (i.

The sensitising capacity of intact β-lactoglobulin is reduced by co-administration with digested β-lactoglobulin.

Background: It is generally believed that protein hydrolysis in the gastrointestinal tract decreases the allergenicity of food allergens. However, it remains unknown if specific properties of digestion products determine whether a sensitisation or tolerogenic immune response will develop. We sought to examine the sensitising capacity of the cow's milk allergen β-lactoglobulin (BLG) and digestion products thereof in a Brown Norway (BN) rat model.

Transfer of a two-tiered keratinocyte assay: IL-18 production by NCTC2544 to determine the skin sensitizing capacity and epidermal equivalent assay to determine sensitizer potency.

At present, the identification of potentially sensitizing chemicals is carried out using animal models. However, it is very important from ethical, safety and economic point of view to have biological markers to discriminate allergy and irritation events, and to be able to classify sensitizers according to their potency, without the use of animals. Within the Sens-it-iv EU Frame Programme 6 funded Integrated Project (LSHB-CT-2005-018681), a number of in vitro, human cell based assays were developed which, when optimized and used in an integrated testing strategy, may be able to distinguish sensitizers from non-sensitizers.