Food allergens in mattress dust in Norwegian homes - a potentially important source of allergen exposure.

BACKGROUND: Sensitization to food allergens and food allergic reactions are mostly caused by ingesting the allergen, but can also occur from exposure via the respiratory tract or the skin. Little is known about exposure to food allergens in the home environment. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was firstly to describe the frequency of detection of allergens from fish, egg, milk, and peanut in mattress dust collected from homes of 13-year-old adolescents and secondly to identify home characteristics associated with the presence of food allergen contamination in dust. METHODS: Food allergens were measured by dot blot analysis in mattress dust from 143 homes in Oslo, Norway. We analysed associations between home characteristics (collected by parental questionnaires and study technicians) and food allergens by multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Fish allergen was detected in 46%, peanut in 41%, milk in 39%, and egg allergen in 22% of the mattress dust samples; only three samples contained none of these allergens. All four food allergens were more frequently detected in mattresses in small dwellings (< 100 m(2)) than larger dwellings (≥ 130 m(2)); 63-71% of the small dwellings (n = 24) had milk, peanut, and fish allergens in the samples compared with 33-44% of the larger dwellings (n = 95). Milk, peanut, and egg allergens were more frequently detected in homes with bedroom and kitchen on the same floor as compared with different floors, with odds ratios of 2.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1, 5.6) for milk, 2.4 (95% CI: 1.0, 6.1) for peanut, and 3.1 (95% CI: 1.3, 7.5) for egg allergens. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Food allergens occurred frequently in beds in Norwegian homes, with dwelling size and proximity of kitchen and bedroom as the most important determinants. Due to the amount of time children spent in the bedroom, mattress dust may be an important source of exposure to food allergens.

Lysosomes as a possible target of enniatin B-induced toxicity in Caco-2 cells.

Enniatins are cyclic hexadepsipeptidic mycotoxins with ionophoric, antibiotic, and insecticidal activity. Enniatin B (EnnB), the most important analogue, is produced by many Fusarium species and is a common contaminant in grain-based foods. The compound's cytotoxic potential has been shown in different experiments; however, the mode of action has not been detailed so far. In the present study, several mutually confirmative experiments have been performed indicating that EnnB-initiated cytotoxicity could be connected with lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). Lysosomal functionality, as assessed by the Neutral Red assay, was already affected after 3 h of toxin exposure. After 24 h, cell proliferation was decreased, and there was indication for a cell cycle arrest in the G(2)/M phase leading to the initiation of apoptosis or necrosis. Intracellular ROS-production was observed. However, antioxidants did not alter the observed EnnB-induced loss of lysosomal functionality leading to the conclusion that ROS was not an initial factor but one produced later in the event cascade. The collected data suggested that lysosomal destabilization is an upstream event in EnnB-initiated cytotoxicity followed by a certain extent of translocation of cathepsins into the cytosol, which was observed using immunological and proteomic methods. It appeared that cell death induced by EnnB was delayed and occurred not as a massive lysosomal breakdown but was probably progressing and leading to partial and selective LMP, starting a nonapoptotic cell death pathway with morphological features that had been previously considered as necrotic. The molecular mechanism of EnnB-triggered lysosomal destabilization, and the cellular processes leading to mitochondrial permeabilization and cell death are still unknown. They may, however, be connected to the compound's ionophoric properties.

Proteomic profiling of salmon skin mucus for the comparison of sampling methods.

The epidermal mucus protects fish against harmful environmental factors and the loss of physiological metabolites and water. It is an efficient barrier between the fish and the biosphere. The integrity of the skin mucus is thus of vital importance for the welfare and survival of the fish. Since excreted proteins and small molecules in the mucus can mirror the health status of the fish, it is a valuable matrix for monitoring stress, pathogen exposure, and nutritional effects. Several methods for sampling epidermal mucus from different fish species have previously been described, but information about their efficiency or the comparability of mucus analyses is lacking. In the present study, skin mucus from farmed Atlantic salmon was therefore sampled by three methods, including absorption or wiping with tissue paper, and scraping with a blunt blade, and the mucus proteome was analyzed by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry. The measured protein contents, numbers, compositions and the observed data quality were compared between sampling methods. Furthermore, functional annotation and classification of the identified proteins was performed. The results showed that the three skin mucus sample types differed qualitatively as well as quantitatively. The absorbed mucus was the least tainted by proteins resulting from damage inflicted to the fish epidermis by the sampling procedure. Wiped mucus showed a better protein yield than absorbed and delivered a larger proteome of identifiable proteins, with less contamination from epithelial proteins than observed for scraped mucus. We recommend that future research of mucus should use the absorption method in cases, where it is important that the mucus is devoid of proteins from the underlying epithelium, and the wiping method, when protein yield is crucial or when the proteome of the outer epithelium is of interest.

Immunoglobulin E cross-reactivity between lupine conglutins and peanut allergens in serum of lupine-allergic individuals.

BACKGROUND: Lupine is used increasingly in food products. The development of lupine allergy in peanut-allergic patients is believed to occur as a result of cross-reactivity between lupine and peanut proteins. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the degree of immunoglobulin (Ig) E cross-reactivity between allergens in lupine and peanut. METHODS: We investigated IgE cross-reactivity between lupine alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-conglutins and the major peanut allergens Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with sera from patients with coexisting peanut and lupine allergy. RESULTS: Peanut proteins inhibited IgE binding towards alpha- conglutins, delta-conglutins, and, to a lesser degree, beta-conglutins, while no IgE cross-reaction with delta-conglutin was observed. Ara h 2 most potently inhibited IgE binding to lupine and delta-conglutins, while Ara h 1 most potently cross-reacted with beta-conglutin. Ara h 3 was apparently not involved in these mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: The present study reveals IgE cross-reactivity between the 2S albumins Ara h 2 and delta-conglutin, and the 7S vicilin-like Ara h 1 and beta-conglutin, which are possibly based on homologies between phylogenetically related proteins. Ara h 2 was the most potent inhibitor of IgE binding to lupine conglutins.

Approaches to assess IgE mediated allergy risks (sensitization and cross-reactivity) from new or modified dietary proteins.

The development and introduction of new dietary protein sources has the potential to improve food supply sustainability. Understanding the potential allergenicity of these new or modified proteins is crucial to ensure protection of public health. Exposure to new proteins may result in de novo sensitization, with or without clinical allergy, or clinical reactions through cross-reactivity. In this paper we review the potential of current methodologies (in silico, in vitro degradation, in vitro IgE binding, animal models and clinical studies) to address these outcomes for risk assessment purposes for new proteins, and especially to identify and characterise the risk of sensitization for IgE mediated allergy from oral exposure. Existing tools and tests are capable of assessing potential crossreactivity. However, there are few possibilities to assess the hazard due to de novo sensitization. The only methods available are in vivo models, but many limitations exist to use them for assessing risk. We conclude that there is a need to understand which criteria adequately define allergenicity for risk assessment purposes, and from these criteria develop a more suitable battery of tests to distinguish between proteins of high and low allergenicity, which can then be applied to assess new proteins with unknown risks.

Sensitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay for the detection of hazelnut (Corylus avellana) protein traces in food matrices.

Allergy to hazelnut is one of the most prevalent causes of severe food-allergic reactions in Norway, as recorded by The Norwegian National Reporting System and Register of Severe Allergic Reactions to Food. In the majority of the reported cases, there is "hidden", unlabelled hazelnut protein in processed foods like chocolate, cookies and cereal mixtures the eliciting agent. For a food survey study performed to evaluate the labelling practices with regards to hazelnut on behalf of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, a new sensitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) for the detection of hazelnut protein traces in food matrices was developed and validated. The unique fluorometric properties of the europium-chelates used improved the signal-to-noise ratio because of low matrix interference and led to an enhanced sensitivity. The limit of detection was 0.1 mg/kg and the limit of quantitation was 0.33 mg/kg hazelnut protein. The recovery ranged from 73% to 123% in cookies and cereals, and from 50 to 77% in chocolate. The intra-assay precision was 7% and the inter-assay precision was 19%. Of 100 randomly chosen retail food products in Norway labelled "may contain hazelnut", 36 contained <0.2 mg/kg and seven >10 mg/kg hazelnut protein, demonstrating how differently this precautionary label is used.

An in vitro investigation of endocrine disrupting effects of trichothecenes deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 and HT-2 toxins.

Trichothecenes are a large family of chemically related mycotoxins. Deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 and HT-2 toxins belong to this family and are produced by various species of Fusarium. The H295R steroidogenesis assay, regulation of steroidogenic gene expression and reporter gene assays (RGAs) for the detection of androgen, estrogen, progestagen and glucocorticoid (ant)agonist responses, have been used to assess the endocrine disrupting activity of DON, T-2 and HT-2 toxins. H295R cells were used as a model for steroidogenesis and gene expression studies and exposed with either DON (0.1-1000ng/ml), T-2 toxin (0.0005-5ng/ml) or HT-2 toxin (0.005-50ng/ml) for 48h. We observed a reduction in hormone levels in media of exposed cells following radioimmunoassay. Cell viability was determined by four colorimetric assays and we observed reduced cell viability with increasing toxin concentrations partly explaining the significant reduction in hormone levels at the highest toxin concentration of all three trichothecenes. Thirteen of the 16 steroidogenic genes analyzed by quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR) were significantly regulated (P<0.05) by DON (100ng/ml), T-2 toxin (0.5ng/ml) and HT-2 toxin (5ng/ml) compared to the control, with reference genes (B2M, ATP5B and ACTB). Whereas HMGR and CYP19 were down-regulated, CYP1A1 and CYP21 were up-regulated by all three trichothecenes. DON further up-regulated CYP17, HSD3B2, CYP11B2 and CYP11B1 and down-regulated NR5A1. T-2 toxin caused down-regulation of NR0B1 and NR5A1 whereas HT-2 toxin induced up-regulation of EPHX and HSD17B1 and down-regulation of CYP11A and CYP17. The expressions of MC2R, StAR and HSD17B4 genes were not significantly affected by any of the trichothecenes in the present study. Although the results indicate that there is no evidence to suggest that DON, T-2 and HT-2 toxins directly interact with the steroid hormone receptors to cause endocrine disruption, the present findings indicate that exposure to DON, T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin have effects on cell viability, steroidogenesis and alteration in gene expression indicating their potential as endocrine disruptors.