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Natural Variation of Hazelnut Allergenicity: Is There Any Potential for Selecting Hypoallergenic Varieties?

2020; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 12; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/nu12072100

2072-6643

Miguel Ribeiro, Joana Costa, Isabel Mafra, Sandra Cabo, Ana Paula Silva, Berta Gonçalves, Mélanie Hillion, Michel Hébraud, Gilberto Igrejas,

Contact Dermatitis and Allergies

Hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.) have an important role in human nutrition and health. However, they are a common cause of food allergy. Due to hazelnut varietal diversity, variety-dependent differences in the IgE-binding properties may be suspected, which could allow therapeutic strategies based on the use of hypoallergenic varieties to induce desensitization. In a proteogenomic approach, we aimed to evaluate the allergenic potential of a genetically diverse set of hazelnuts (n = 13 varieties). Minor differences were found at the level of genes encoding important allergens, namely Cor a 8, Cor a 9, and Cor a 14. Nevertheless, IgE-reactivity was similar for all varieties using sera from seven allergic individuals. The predominant IgE-reactive proteins were Cor a 9 (100%) and Cor a 1.04 (60%), with the former being the most frequently identified by a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE)-based proteomic approach. Therefore, it seems that the conventional exclusion diet will hold its ground for the time being.