Lipid emulsion enhances fish allergen parvalbumin's resistance to in vitro digestion and IgG/IgE binding capacity

This study was performed to determine Parvalbumin (PV), a well-known fish allergenic protein, digestion kinetics and immunoreactivity of digestion products with Immunoglobulin G/Immunoglobulin E recognition to understand its allergic potential with or without lipid emulsion process. PV was subjected to simulated gastrointestinal digestion in emulsified condition. Digestion kinetics of the protein was analysed by electrophoresis, IgG/IgE binding ability by immunoblotting and indirect ELISA. Lipid emulsion significantly (p < 0.01) reduced the degree of PV hydrolysis by 52.10% for gastric digestion. Immune fragments of gastric digestion were detectable for 90-120 min longer in emulsified condition showing resistance. Consequently, lipid emulsion decreased the digestive ability of PV in stomach, increasing resistance to gastrointestinal digestion by pepsin proteases. It also altered IgG/IgE binding ability of digestion products, thereby indicating that PV with lipid emulsion was resistant to digestion and possessed increased IgE binding ability resulting in higher risk of allergy among sensitized individuals.