Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026
IgY Technology: Extraction of Chicken Antibodies from Egg Yolk by Polyethylene Glycol PEG Precipitation
Published on: May 1, 2011
Ovalbumin-specific IgE/IgG4 ratio might improve the prediction of cooked and uncooked egg tolerance development in
M Vazquez-Ortiz1, M Pascal, R Jiménez-Feijoo
1Paediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Background:
Accurate predictors of natural tolerance development to cooked and uncooked egg are needed in egg-allergic patients.
Objective:
To compare the diagnostic performance of different immunological tests in relation to egg allergy versus tolerance.
Methods:
Children aged 5-18 years diagnosed with IgE-mediated egg allergy were prospectively recruited. All followed an egg-free diet. Prick test and specific IgE (sIgE) to ovalbumin, ovomucoid and egg white, ovalbumin-sIgG4 and ovomucoid-sIgG4 were determined. By boiled and raw egg challenges, children were classified as cooked egg allergic (CEA, n = 50) or tolerant (CET, n = 35), and uncooked egg allergic (UEA, n = 64) or tolerant (UET, n = 21). Statistics. Comparative analysis (CEA vs. CET and UEA vs. UET). Multivariate logistic regression. Partial receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of tests in relation to CEA and UEA. Negative decision points were defined as cut-offs with sensitivity 95%.
Results:
Ovalbumin-sIgG4 resulted an independent protective factor for uncooked egg allergy. To identify patients with high probability of egg tolerance, ovalbumin-sIgE/sIgG4 tended to perform better than sIgE and prick, specifically in children with ovalbumin-sIgE < 1.9 kU/L (for UEA) and ovomucoid-sIgE < 2.12 kU/L (for CEA). The most accurate cut-offs to recommend challenges were ovalbumin-sIgE/sIgG4 below 2.49 for cooked egg and 1.45 for uncooked egg, which associated 89.5% and 80% probability of tolerance (negative likelihood ratios 0.08 and 0.06), respectively. These cut-offs identified correctly as tolerant an additional 23% and 14% of children with negative challenges to cooked and uncooked egg, respectively, in comparison with sIgE negative decision points. Additionally, prick test tended to perform better than sIgE alone in predicting cooked and uncooked egg tolerance for ovomucoid-sIgE < 0.92 kU/L and ovalbumin-sIgE < 1.37 kU/L, respectively.
Conclusions:
Ovalbumin-specific IgG4 is an independent predictor of tolerance development to uncooked egg. Ovalbumin-sIgE/sIgG4 ratio, followed by skin prick test (SPT), seems to perform better than sIgE in identifying egg-allergic children with high probability of tolerance to cooked and uncooked egg over follow-up.
Related Concept Videos
01:15Transcytosis of IgG
IgG molecules from a mother undergo transcytosis starting around 13 weeks of gestation. The amount of IgG transferred and entering the fetal blood circulation increases with...
01:22Development of Immunocompetence
The initial cells that migrate from the fetal thymus settle within the skin and epithelial tissues lining the mouth, digestive tract, and in females, the uterus and vagina. These cells, including skin-based dendritic cells, serve as antigen-presenting cells, playing a key role in T cell activation.
Subsequent T...
00:42Cross-reactivity
01:10Antibody Structure
Antibodies, also known as immunoglobulins (Ig), are essential players of the adaptive immune system. These antigen-binding proteins are produced by B cells and make up 20 percent of the total blood plasma by weight. In mammals, antibodies fall into five different classes, which each elicits a different biological response upon antigen binding.
The Y-Shaped Structure of Antibodies Consists of Four Polypeptide Chains
Antibodies consist of four polypeptide chains: two identical heavy...