Significance of 40-, 45-, and 48-kDa Proteins in the Moderate-to-Severe Clinical Symptoms of Buckwheat Allergy

• Published in: Allergy, asthma & immunology research Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 37 - 43
• Main Authors: Cho, Joongbum, Lee, Jeong-Ok, Choi, Jaehee, Park, Mi-Ran, Shon, Dong-Hwa, Kim, Jihyun, Ahn, Kangmo, Han, Youngshin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology; The Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease 01.01.2015; 대한천식알레르기학회
• Subjects: Original; 내과학; severity; Food allergy; allergen; component; buckwheat; immunoblotting
• ISSN: 2092-7355; 2092-7363; 2092-7363
• DOI: 10.4168/aair.2015.7.1.37

This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the allergen components and moderate-to-severe allergic reactions in patients with buckwheat allergy. Fifteen patients with a history of buckwheat ingestion and a buckwheat specific IgE level≥0.35 kU/L were enrolled. They were divided into 2 groups according to clinical severity scores, with 0-1 being asymptomatic-to-mild and 2-4 being moderate-to-severe symptoms. Immunoblotting was performed to investigate IgE reactivity toward buckwheat allergens and to measure intensity of each component by using a reflective densitometer. The proportions of positive band to the 16 kDa (62.5% vs 0%, P=0.026) and 40-50 kDa (87.5% vs 28.6%, P=0.041) buckwheat allergens in the grade 2-4 group were higher than those in grade 0-1 group. The level of buckwheat specific IgE of grade 2-4 group was higher than that of grade 0-1 group (41.3 kU/L vs 5.5 kU/L, P=0.037). The median optical densities (ODs) of IgE antibody binding to 40-50 kDa protein were higher in the grade 2-4 group, compared with those in the grade 0-1 group (130% OD vs 60.8% OD, P=0.037). The 40-50 kDa protein is implicated as an important allergen to predict moderate-to-severe clinical symptoms in Korean children with buckwheat allergy.