Exploration of severity-associated peanut allergens via proteomic analysis

Area of Science:

• Allergen immunotherapy
• Proteomics
• Immunology

Background:

• The correlation between peanut allergy severity and specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels to peanut allergen components requires further investigation.
• Previous studies have not fully analyzed this relationship in pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the relationship between peanut allergen component-specific IgE and the severity of peanut allergy in children.
• To identify novel peanut allergen components associated with allergy severity using proteomic analysis.

Main Methods:

• Proteomic analysis, including immunoblotting and mass spectrometry, was employed to identify potential peanut allergen components.
• Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) confirmed IgE reactivity to identified components using sera from pediatric patients who underwent oral food challenges (OFC).
• Peanut allergy severity was quantified using the TS/Pro score, calculated from the Anaphylaxis Scoring Aichi (TS) divided by the cumulative peanut protein dose (Pro) during OFC.

Main Results:

• Seven novel allergen components were identified in addition to known peanut allergens.
• High correlations were observed between IgE levels for Ara h 2 (rs=0.67) and Ara h 6 (rs=0.66), and the sum of seven candidate allergens (rs=0.64) with peanut allergy severity (TS/Pro).
• Significant correlations were also found for IgE levels against Ara h 1, Ara h 3, Ara h 7, and SBP65 with allergy severity.

Conclusions:

• Sensitization to Ara h 2 and Ara h 6, along with broader sensitization diversity, are key factors associated with peanut allergy severity.
• SBP65 (Ara h 20) was identified as a potential novel allergen component implicated in peanut allergy severity.