Journal article
Cow's milk allergy prevention and treatment by heat-treated whey - a study in Brown Norway rats
National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark1
Research Group for Food Allergy, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark2
Technical University of Denmark3
Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark4
New Bioactive Compounds, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark5
Arla Foods6
Medical University of Vienna7
Utrecht University8
Background Food processing, including heat‐treatment, can affect protein structure and stability, and consequently affect protein immunogenicity and allergenicity. A few studies have shown that structural changes induced by heat‐treatment impact the intestinal protein uptake and suggest this as a contributing factor for altered allergenicity.
Objective To investigate the impact of heat‐treatment of a whey‐based protein product on allergenicity and tolerogenicity as well as on intestinal uptake in various animal models. Methods Immunogenicity and sensitising capacity of the heat‐treated whey product was compared to that of the unmodified product by intraperitoneal and oral exposure studies, while tolerogenic properties were assessed by oral primary prevention and desensitisation studies in high‐IgE responder Brown Norway rats.
Results Heat‐treatment of whey induced partial protein denaturation and aggregation, which reduced the intraperitoneal sensitising capacity but not immunogenicity. In contrast, heat‐treatment did not influence the oral sensitising capacity, but the heat‐treated whey showed a significantly reduced eliciting capacity compared to unmodified whey upon oral challenge.
Heat‐treatment did not reduce the tolerogenic properties of whey, as both products were equally good at preventing sensitisation in naïve rats as well as desensitising already sensitised rats. Results from inhibitory ELISA and immunoblots with sera from sensitised rats demonstrated that heat‐treatment caused an altered protein and epitope reactivity.
Protein uptake studies showed that heat‐treatment changed the route of uptake with less whey being absorbed through the epithelium but more into the payer's patches. Conclusion & Clinical Relevance These results support the notion that the physicochemical features of proteins affect their route of uptake and that the route of uptake may affect the protein allergenicity.
Furthermore, the study highlights the potential for heat‐treatment in the production of efficient and safe cow's milk protein‐based products for prevention and treatment of cow's milk allergy.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2020 |
Pages: | 708-721 |
ISSN: | 09602178 , 09547894 and 13652222 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1111/cea.13587 |
ORCIDs: | Graversen, Katrine Bækby , Ravn Ballegaard, Anne-Sofie and Bøgh, Katrine Lindholm |