2017 Volume 31 Issue 3 Pages 288-296
Most food allergens are proteins contained in foods. Knowledge of food allergens is essential for understanding food allergies. By knowing the function of food allergens as a protein, physicians who care for food allergy patients can deeply diagnose and treat them. Many of the plant food allergens belong to the four protein superfamilies (prolamin, cuptin, Bet v 1 homologue and profilin), and many of the animal food allergens belong to three protein superfamilies (tropomyosin, parvalbumin and casein). Regarding the former, for example, in the case of soybean, six of the eight types of allergen components registered in WHO/IUIS are included in the four protein superfamilies. The latter is resistant to heat treatment and shows cross antigenicity to a wide variety of animals. Since chicken eggs and wheat contain a family of food allergen proteins other than the seven protein superfamilies, it is necessary to deepen their understanding by confirming the properties and functions as individual proteins.
