Food allergy in atopic dogs

The food sensitive dog provides a good animal model for food allergy, whose allergic reaction can be followed serially with repeated challenges both in skin and by oral challenges and by endoscopic direct visualization and serial biopsies. This model is proving useful in showing reduced allergenicity in food allergens-soy, wheat, cow's milk by thioredoxin treatment. Recently Dr. Buchanan has cloned the gene for the NADP-thioredoxin reductase (NTR) which he transferred into barley seeds with a bacterial vector. He is attempting to do the same with wheat and soy seeds to produce genetically hypoallergenic foods. The canine model for food allergy provides an excellent model in which to test such bio-engineered potentially hypoallergenic foods.