Sesame oleosins are minor allergens

Area of Science:

• Food allergy research
• Immunology
• Plant biochemistry

Background:

• Current sesame allergy diagnostics miss one-third of allergic patients.
• Water-based sesame extracts lack hydrophobic allergens like oleosins.
• Oleosins, plant lipid droplet stabilizers, are implicated in sesame, peanut, and hazelnut allergies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of sesame oleosins in sesame allergy.
• To assess potential cross-reactivity of oleosins between sesame and other nuts.
• To evaluate oleosins as diagnostic markers for sesame allergy.

Main Methods:

• Assessed specific IgE and IgG sensitization to sesame oleosins and other nut oleosins using line blot.
• Analyzed sera from sesame allergic patients with and without detectable IgE sensitization to sesame.
• Included sera from sesame-tolerant individuals for comparison.

Main Results:

• No specific IgE to sesame oleosins found in sesame allergic patients without prior sensitization.
• Low levels of specific IgE to sesame oleosins detected in a minority of allergic and tolerant patients.
• Serum IgG recognized oleosins, confirming immune reactivity and ruling out technical assay issues.

Conclusions:

• Sesame oleosins are minor allergens with limited diagnostic value for sesame allergy in adults via sIgE/sIgG.
• Current diagnostic methods for sesame allergy require improvement.
• Development of novel diagnostic tools is crucial to reduce reliance on food challenges.