Reatividade a múltiplas proteínas da dieta em crianças com alergia ao leite de vaca mediada pela imunoglobulina E / Reactivity to multiple protein diet in children with cow's milk allergy mediated by immunoglobulin E

Objetivos: Determinar a reatividade dos soros e determinação dos isotipos IgG e IgE a proteínas de sementes da dieta de crianças com alergia ao leite de vaca IgE mediada. Métodos: Foram avaliados soros de três grupos de crianças: alérgicas ao leite de vaca IgE mediada, crianças tolerantes ao leite e um grupo controle com crianças não atópicas. Foram usados extratos protéicos de diferentes tipos de sementes utilizando o teste de ELISA para análise da reatividade dos isotipos IgG e IgE. Resultados: Comparando as concentrações séricas de IgG dos diferentes grupos, observou-se concentrações mais elevadas e estatisticamente significante no grupo alérgico em relação aos grupos tolerante e controle, exceto para as sementes de soja e feijão roxinho. Em relação ao isotipo IgE observou-se os mesmos padrões de reatividade mostradas nas analises para IgG, com diferença significante do grupo alérgico em relação ao controle, exceto para milho. Observou-se que para a soja houve grande dispersão das concentrações séricas tanto no grupo alérgico quanto no tolerante, em valores superiores ao do grupo controle. Conclusão: A comparação entre os diversos grupos avaliados mostra que pacientes alérgicos ao leite e os tolerantes apresentam concentrações mais elevadas de IgG e IgE a outros alimentos que as crianças do grupo controle, o que pode sugerir possível alteração de permeabilidade da mucosa intestinal nestes grupos, mesmo na ausência de sintomatologia gastrintestinal.

Objective: To determine the reactivity of serum and determination of IgG and IgE isotypes to seed proteins included in the diet of children with cow's milk allergy IgE mediated. Methods: We evaluated sera from three groups of children: cow's milk allergic patients, tolerant children and a control group with non-atopic children. It was used protein extracts from different types of seeds using an ELISA assay to analyze the reactivity of IgG and IgE isotypes. Results: Comparing the IgG serum from different groups, it was observed higher concentrations and statistically significant in the allergic group compared to the tolerant and control groups, except for soybeans and kidney beans. To the IgE isotype it was observed the same patterns of reactivity shown in the analysis for IgG, with significant difference in the allergic group compared to control, except for corn. It was observed that for soybeans there were values of serum, both in the allergic and tolerant group higher than in the control group. Conclusion: Our study showed that the allergic and tolerant groups of CMA patients presented higher IgG and IgE concentrations to many seeds than the control group. These findings may suggest possible changes in permeability intestinal mucosa in these groups.

Review of the 1st annual world congress of immunodiseases and therapeutics.

BIT's 1st Annual World Congress of Immunodiseases and Therapeutics was held in Beijing, China, on 15-17 May 2010. The meeting provided a venue for a wide spectrum of researchers in the basic sciences and clinical areas to present and share their data and ideas. The pervading theme of the meeting dealt with the concept that immune mechanisms underlie most, if not all, medical diseases and therefore the future of medical therapeutics necessitates a greater understanding and corrective manipulation of dysfunctional metabolic and immune pathways. The meeting was well run, educational and enjoyable.

Induction of an antigen specific gut inflammatory reaction in mice and rats: a model for human Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Food allergy is an adverse reaction that occurs in susceptible people when they eat sensitizing foods and is one of the causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The effort to understand the induction process of these diseases is important as IBD is increasing worldwide, including in Brazil. The aim of this study was to develop an experimental antigen specific inflammatory process of the gut of mice and rats, using peanut seeds. Animals were immunized with peanut protein extract before their exposure to the in natura peanut seeds. Results showed that systemic immunization with peanut protein extracts rendered significantly higher antibody titers than control groups and that immunized animals submitted to a challenge diet containing peanuts presented time dependent alterations of the gut similar to celiac disease. In conclusion, results suggested that this experimental model was a convenient tool to study the evolution of alterations in chronic antigen specific gut inflammatory process.

A alergia alimentar consiste em uma reação adversa que ocorre em pessoas susceptíveis quando ingerem alimentos sensibilizantes, sendo uma das causas das Doenças Inflamatórias Intestinais (IBD). O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um protocolo experimental de indução de um processo inflamatório intestinal antígeno-específico em camundongos e ratos. Foi escolhida para a indução deste processo a semente de amendoim. Os animais foram imunizados com o extrato protéico previamente à exposição com a semente in natura. Nossos resultados mostram que a imunização sistêmica com extratos protéicos de amendoim ocasiona títulos significativamente maiores de anticorpos quando comparado ao grupo controle e que os animais imunizados submetidos ao desafio com a dieta contendo exclusivamente amendoim apresentam alterações intestinais tempo-dependente similares àquelas observadas na doença celíaca. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que este modelo experimental constitui uma ferramenta conveniente para avaliar as alterações no processo inflamatório intestinal crônico antígeno-específico

The serum D-xylose test as a useful tool to identify malabsorption in rats with antigen specific gut inflammatory reaction.

The inappropriate immune response to foods, such as peanut, wheat and milk may be the basis in the pathogenesis of enteropathies like coeliac and Crohn disease, which present small intestinal malabsorption. A number of recent studies have utilized d-xylose absorption as an investigative tool to study small intestinal function in a variety of clinical settings. Thus, the aim of this experimental study was to evaluate the intestinal absorption of D-xylose in an antigen-specific gut inflammatory reaction rat model. Animals of the experimental group were inoculated with peanut protein extract before their exposure to a challenge diet containing exclusively peanut seeds to induce the gut inflammatory reaction caused by peanut allergy. Our results show that systemic inoculation with peanut protein extract renders significantly higher antibody titres (5.085 +/- 0.126 units) (P < 0.0001) than control rats (0.905 +/- 0.053 units) and that the antibody titres correlate positively to an inflammatory alteration of the gut morphology (P < 0.0001). Animals pertaining to the experimental group showed an intestinal absorption of D-xylose lower than control rats (P < 0.0001). We also observed that D-xylose absorption correlates negatively with IgG titres and positively with morphometric parameters (Pearson correlation). In conclusion, the use of serum D-xylose test was useful to identify the presence of small intestinal malabsorption in our antigen specific gut inflammatory reaction rat model.

Food allergy/hypersensitivity: antigenicity or timing?

Mechanisms involved in the induction of oral tolerance (OT) or systemic immunization through the oral rout are still poorly understood. In our previous studies, we have shown that when normal mice eat peanuts they become tolerant, with no gut alterations. Conversely, if immunized with peanut proteins prior to a challenge diet (CD) containing peanuts they develop chronic inflammation of the gut. Our aim is to evaluate the consequences of the introduction of a novel protein in the diet of animals presenting antigen-specific gut inflammation. Adult, female C57BL/6J mice were divided in control (C) and experimental (E) groups. C1-C3 received peanut protein immunization, animals of the control groups C4 were sham immunized, and control group C5 received ovalbumin (OVA) immunization. The experimental group was immunized with peanut protein extract. Before initial exposure to a 30-day peanut containing CD, the experimental group was divided into 5 groups (E1-E5). OVA feeding began 7 days prior CD (E1) on day 0 (E2), 7 (E3), 14 (E4) and 21 (E5) during CD. Our results show that oral exposure to a novel protein (OVA) in the absence of gut inflammation (E1) leads to low levels of systemic antibody (Ab) titers, comparable to tolerant animals. Conversely, as off initial induction of inflammation, groups submitted to OVA (OT) protocol develop increasingly higher systemic Ab titers similar to animals of the immune control group. In conclusion, our protocol indicates that timing is more important than the antigenicity when a novel protein is offered, in the diet.

Diet selection in immunologically manipulated mice.

Diet selection is a complex problem that animals in wildlife have to deal with daily. In their natural environment, these animals meet a great variety of foods some of which they are able and prepared to eat, yet, not all of it is eaten. In addition to the biological factors, some of which we shall discuss deeper in this paper, an important factor in food preference is social contact. Alterations in the physiology of mammals can have profound effects on the choice or preference for certain foods. On the other hand the decline of taste and smell perception in the elderly, the degree of food restriction, the sensorial properties of foods (such as presentation, taste, and smell) can be considered factors that influence feeding behavior leading to aversion. Many species, including man, learn to associate nausea with taste, and as a consequence avoid its specific intake, which has been shown to be persistent. Conditioned taste aversion is a form of associative learning in which animals display an aversion to the taste of a food that has previously been paired with illness. Our group has investigated the pattern of ingestion of foods that are frequently eaten by mice in wildlife and are potentially allergenic to humans in order to study the immunological consequences to these foods such as oral tolerance and inflammatory processes of the gut. We have chosen two seeds, peanuts (Arachis hypogea) and cashew nuts (Anacardium occidentale), as our source of antigens as the first is considered to be one of the most potent food allergens and for the second there seems to be very little allergy in the human setting. We used male and female, normal, adult CBA/J, A/J, C57BL/6 and Balb/c mice 2-3 months old and hybrid (C57Bl/6xBalb/c) F1, (Balb/cxC57Bl/6) F1), (C57Bl/6xDBA2) F1 mice. Food preference appeared to be strain-specific. Animals tolerized to a determined seed, then immunized with its protein extract and re-exposed to the seed in natura alter their feeding pattern. We suggest that diet selection, a multi-factorial event, is influenced by genetic factors such as the MHC and the immunological status of the animal.