In the period from March-June 2018, eight new publications were published in the field of food allergy (co-)authored by the TNO Food Allergy team.
The first paper is a review describing the (micro)anatomy of the immune system in relation to exposure, with a focus on the rat and mouse as preferred animal species in toxicology and immunology research.
Kuper CF, van Bilsen J, Wijnands MVW. The serosal immune system of the thorax in toxicology. Toxicol Sci. 2018 Apr 10. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy085. [Epub ahead of print]
Two papers focus on (pea)nut allergy. One describes the relation between hazelnut allergens and the distribution of hazelnut thresholds. The other paper studies the association of variable IgE sensitization to clinical response in peanut-challenged children and adolescents and the avoidance of tree nuts and species-specific sensitizations.
- Masthoff LJN, Blom WM, Rubingh CM, Klemans RJB, Remington BC, Bruijnzeel-Koomen CAFM, van Hoffen E, Houben GF, Meyer Y, Pasmans SGMA, Knulst AC. Sensitization to Cor a 9 or Cor a 14 has a strong impact on the distribution of thresholds to hazelnut. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2018 May 18. pii: S2213-2198(18)30318-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2018.04.040. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available. PMID: 29782938
- R. Uotila, A. K. Kukkonen, W. M. Blom, B. Remington, J. Westerhout, A. S. Pelkonen, M. J. Mäkelä. Component-resolved diagnostics demonstrates that most peanut-allergic individuals could potentially introduce tree nuts to their diet. Clin Exp Allergy. 2018;48:712–721.
Two papers focus on allergenicity assessment. One is a review providing an overview of allergy cases following insect ingestion, studies on food allergy to insects, proteins involved in insect allergy including cross-reactive proteins, and the possibility to alter the allergenic potential of insects by food processing and digestion. The second paper provides an overview of the legislative framework currently in place across Europe, the key elements required for allergenicity assessment of novel foods, the tools at disposal for allergenicity prediction and the most advanced technologies available for food allergen detection and characterization.
- Steffie de Gier, Kitty Verhoeckx. Insect (food) allergy and allergens. Molecular Immunology 2018 May 3. pii: S0161-5890(18)30094-4. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.03.015.
- Isabella Pali-Schöll, Kitty Verhoeckx, Isabel Mafra, Simona L. Bavaro, E.N. Clare Mills, Linda Monaci. Allergenic and novel food proteins: State of the art and challenges in the allergenicity assessment. Trends in Food Science & Technology, Available online 8 March 2018
Food group selection for allergen risk assessment is described in the following paper:
Birot S, Madsen CB, Kruizinga AG, Crépet A, Christensen T, Brockhoff PB. Food groups for allergen risk assessment: Combining food consumption data from different countries in Europe. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018 May 18;118:371-381. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2018.05.042. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 29778497
A paper describing the culprit food products and levels of unexpected allergens in accidental reactions in a prospective cohort study conducted in adults was published.
Blom WM, Michelsen-Huisman AD, van Os-Medendorp H, van Duijn G, de Zeeuw-Brouwer ML, Versluis A, Castenmiller JJM, Noteborn HPJM, Kruizinga AG, Knulst AC, Houben GF. Accidental food allergy reactions: products and undeclared ingredients. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018 Jun 14. pii: S0091-6749(18)30853-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2018.04.041. [Epub ahead of print]
The paper above enjoyed quite some attention of media:
- Link to TNO press release (in English):
https://www.tno.nl/en/about-tno/news/2018/6/ambiguous-labeling-of-food-products-causes-allergic-reactions/ - Radio interview (in Dutch):
https://www.nporadio1.nl/nos-radio-1-journaal/onderwerpen/460045-onjuiste-voedseletiketten-veroorzaken-allergische-reacties - TV journal this morning:
https://nos.nl/uitzending/33904-nos-journaal.html
Finally a chapter in the dissertation of MM Vonk describes a network-based approach for identifying suitable biomarkers for oral immunotherapy of food allergy.
Van Bilsen JHM, Verschuren L, Wagenaar L, Vonk MM, van Esch BCAM, Knippels LMJ, Garssen J, Smit JJ, Pieters RHH, van den Broek TJ. A network-based approach for identifying suitable biomarkers for oral immunotherapy of food allergy. Chapter 5, Dissertation MM Vonk, Utrecht, Utrecht University; 2018