Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology
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With the development of genetically modified crop plants there has been a growing interest in the approaches available to assess the potential allergenicity of novel gene products. For additional assessment of the potential allergenicity of expressed proteins, informative data can be generated using animal models. Soybean is one of the major source of protein in human and animal nutrition, and has also been well characterized as a major allergenic source. Advances in biotechnology have resulted in an increasing number of genetically engineered foods, and among these soybean is one of the most widespread. ⋯ obtained by specific IgE ELISA inhibition and by antigen-specific T cell proliferation demonstrated that wt-SE and gm-SE shared B and T epitopes. The present murine model of soybean sensitization established by the oral route should provide valuable information about risk assessment for food allergy from new proteins of genetically modified foods.
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Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is a potential treatment for house dust mite-induced atopic dermatitis (AD). However, the mechanisms of action are not clear. ⋯ The mouse model induced by Der f allergen extract reflected the typical hallmarks of human AD. In the Der f allergens-sensitized mice, SLIT treatment with Der f vaccine was shown to significantly inhibit AD symptoms through correction of Th2 and Th1 cytokine predominance. Our study suggested that SLIT could be considered as an attractive treatment for patients with extrinsic AD.
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Immunotherapy with anti-IgE antibodies for treatment of allergy is promising but a short half-life and extremely high cost limit its application. ⋯ Antibodies against self-IgE can be induced by IgE peptide-based vaccines, which are effective in preventing the increase of IgE and in down-regulating IgE in sensitized animals.