Affiliations: Institute of Applied Microbiology, Department of
Biotechnology, BOKU, Vienna, Austria | Floridsdorfer Allergiezentrum, 1210 Vienna,
Austria
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Margit Laimer da Câmara
Machado, Plant Biotechnology Unit, IAM, Department of Biotechnology, BOKU,
Nussdorfer Lände 11, 1190 Vienna, Austria. Tel.: +43 1 36006 6560; Fax:
+43 1 369 76 15; E-mail: margit.laimer@boku.ac.at
Abstract: Regular consumption of fruits has a positive influence on human
health by disease prevention. However parallel to dietetic benefits,
IgE-mediated fruit allergies have been shown to be an increasing health risk
for children and adults in the Northern hemisphere. The spectrum of food
allergies ranges from chronical symptoms to more acute problems and even
anaphylaxis. Fruit proteins with high primary sequence similarity display also
homologous tertiary structures, resulting in similar epitopes to IgEs and
consequently in cross-reactivity. In this review we present the major allergens
of stone and pome fruits and discuss the presence of homologous proteins in
small fruits. Interestingly these proteins, which might pose an allergenic
potential for pre-sensitised individuals are expressed also in strawberry,
raspberry and blueberry, otherwise rich in beneficial biofactors.
Keywords: Fruit allergy, small fruits, cross reactivity, pathogenesis related proteins (PRPs), cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCDs)
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 235-241, 2005
