April 2008 QUIZ OF THE MONTH . . .
Which one of the following egg allergens would fit the description noted below? This is the dominant allergen in hen’s egg. Children with persistent egg allergy have significant higher concentrations of IgE antibodies to this allergen. Thus the presence of these antibodies correlates with the failure to “outgrow” egg allergy. It is resistant to heat and digestive enzymes.
- Ovalbumin
- Ovomucoid
- Ovotransferrin
- Lysozyme
Discussion
An ongoing study of insect sting reactions at Johns Hopkins Medical School has revealed factors which are predictive of a repeat reaction to insect sting in a previous reactor. All of the above increase the chances of a repeat reaction with the exception of total IgE.References
- Burks W, et al. Food allergens. In: Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2001; 1(3):243-248.
- Bernhisel-Broadbent, et al. Allergenicity and antigenicity of chicken egg ovomucoid compared with ovalbumin in children with egg allergy and in mice. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1994; 93(6):1047-1059.
- Cooke SK and Sampson HA. Allergenic properties of ovomucoid in man. J Immunol 1997; 159(4):2026-2032.
- Zhang JW and Mine Y. Characterization of IgE and IgG epitopes in ovomucoid using egg-white allergic patients’ sera. Biochem Biophys Res Connun 1998; 253(1):124-127.
- Mine Y and Rupa P. Fine mapping and structural analysis of immunodominant IgE allergenic epitopes in chicken egg ovalbumin. Protein Eng 2003; 16(10):747-752.
- Javinen KM, et al. Specificity of IgE antibodies to sequential epitopes of hen’s egg ovalbumin as a marker for persistence of egg allergy. Allergy 2007; 62(7):758-765.
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