Ranking of 10 legumes according to the prevalence of sensitization as a parameter to characterize allergenic proteins

Predicting the allergenicity of novel proteins is challenging due to the absence of validated predictive methods and a well-defined reference set of proteins. The prevalence of sensitization could be a parameter to select reference proteins to characterize allergenic proteins. This study investigated whether the prevalence of sensitization of...

Digestion and Transport across the Intestinal Epithelium Affects the Allergenicity of Ara h 1 and 3 but Not of Ara h 2 and 6

Scope: No accepted and validated methods are currently available which can accurately predict protein allergenicity. In this study, the role of digestion and transport on protein allergenicity is investigated. Methods and results: Peanut allergens (Ara h 1, 2, 3, and 6) and a milk allergen (β-lactoglobulin) are transported across pig intestinal...

Predicting the allergenicity of legume proteins using a PBMC gene expression assay

Background: Food proteins differ in their allergenic potential. Currently, there is no predictive and validated bio-assay to evaluate the allergenicity of novel food proteins. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of a human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) gene expression assay to identify biomarkers to predict...

Release of major peanut allergens from their matrix under various pH and simulated saliva conditions—Ara h2 and ara h6 are readily bio-accessible

The oral mucosa is the first immune tissue that encounters allergens upon ingestion of food. We hypothesized that the bio-accessibility of allergens at this stage may be a key determinant for sensitization. Light roasted peanut flour was suspended at various pH in buffers mimicking saliva. Protein concentrations and allergens profiles were...

Legume Protein Consumption and the Prevalence of Legume Sensitization

Sensitization and allergy to legumes can be influenced by different factors, such as exposure, geographical background, and food processing. Sensitization and the allergic response to legumes differs considerably, however, the reason behind this is not yet fully understood. The aim of this study is to investigate if there is a correlation...

Comparison of six commercial ELISA kits for their specificity and sensitivity in detecting different major peanut allergens

Six commercial peanut enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits were assessed for their ability to recover peanut from the standard reference material 2387 peanut butter and also for their specificity in detecting four major peanut allergens, Ara h 1, Ara h 2, Ara h 3, and Ara h 6. The percentage recovery of peanut from peanut butter differed...

International ring trial of the epidermal equivalent sensitizer potency assay: Reproducibility and predictive-capacity

This study describes the international ring trial of the epidermal-equivalent (EE) sensitizer potency assay. This assay does not distinguish a sensitizer from a non-sensitizer, but may classify known skin sensitizers according to their potency. It assesses the chemical concentration resulting in 50% cytotoxicity (EE-EC50) or the 2-fold increase...

Transfer of a two-tiered keratinocyte assay: IL-18 production by NCTC2544 to determine the skin sensitizing capacity and epidermal equivalent assay to determine sensitizer potency

At present, the identification of potentially sensitizing chemicals is carried out using animal models. However, it is very important from ethical, safety and economic point of view to have biological markers to discriminate allergy and irritation events, and to be able to classify sensitizers according to their potency, without the use of...

Beyond speculative robot ethics: A vision assessment study on the future of the robotic caretaker

In this article we develop a dialogue model for robot technology experts and designated users to discuss visions on the future of robotics in long-term care. Our vision assessment study aims for more distinguished and more informed visions on future robots. Surprisingly, our experiment also led to some promising co-designed robot concepts in...

The effects of shoulder load and pinch force on electromyographic activity and blood flow in the forearm during a pinch task

The object of the current study was to determine whether static contraction of proximal musculature has an effect on the blood flow more distally in the upper extremity. Static contractions of muscles in the neck shoulder region at three levels (relaxed, shoulders elevated and shoulders elevated loaded with 4.95 kg each) were combined with...

Osteopontin levels and increased disease activity in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients

Osteopontin (OPN) has been identified as the most prominent cytokine-encoding gene expressed within multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. Recently, we demonstrated that OPN plasma levels were elevated in active relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients. In this longitudinal study, a trend was observed for OPN serum levels in relation to clinical...

Immunomodulatory effects of orally administered cannabinoids in multiple sclerosis

Cannabinoids can modulate the function of immune cells. We here present the first human in vivo study measuring immune function in 16 MS patients treated with oral cannabinoids. A modest increase of TNF-α in LPS-stimulated whole blood was found during cannabis plant-extract treatment (p=0.037), with no change in other cytokines. In the subgroup...

Elevated osteopontin levels in active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

In the search for proteins that might play a role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), osteopontin (OPN) has been identified as the most prominent cytokine-encoding gene expressed within MS lesions. Here, we report significantly increased OPN protein levels in plasma of relapsing-remitting MS patients. In contrast, OPN protein levels...

De invloed van schouderbelasting en knijpkracht op het ontstaan van RSI-klachten aan de onderarm of handen

Een belemmerde bloedtoevoer naar werkende spieren wordt vaak genoemd als veroorzaker van RSI-klachten. Doel van het hier beschreven onderzoek was het bepalen van de invloed van knijpkracht en schouderbelasting op de bloedtoevoer naar de onderarm tijdens een intermitterende knijptaak. Tijdens de knijptaak en de daaropvolgende herstelperiode werd...

Cytokine and IL-12 receptor mRNA discriminate between different clinical subtypes in multiple sclerosis

Little is known about the involvement of cytokines in the pathogenesis of primary progressive (PP) multiple sclerosis (MS). We evaluated in this cross-sectional study whether IL-18, IL-12p35, IL-12p40, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-4, TGF-β, IL-12Rβ1, and IL-12Rβ2 mRNA expression in unstimulated white blood cells showed significant differences between...

Molecular characterization of two lipoxygenases from barley

Two full-length lipoxygenase cDNA sequences (LoxB and LoxC) from barley (Hordeum distichum cv. L. Triumph) are described. The cDNAs share high homology with the barley LoxA cDNA. Southern blotting experiments indicate single copy numbers of the three lipoxygenase genes. RFLP mapping revealed the presence of single lipoxygenase loci. LoxA and...

Primary structure of a lipoxygenase from barley grain as deduced from its cDNA sequence

A full length cDNA sequence for a barley grain lipoxygenase was obtained. It includes a 5' untranslated region of 69 nucleotides, an open reading frame of 2586 nucleotides encoding a protein of 862 amino acid residues and a 3' untranslated region of 142 nucleotides. The molecular mass of the encoded polypeptide was calculated to be 96.392. Its...