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Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2013 February 1.

Published in final edited form as:

Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2012 February; 32(1): 11–33.

doi:  10.1016/j.iac.2011.12.003

PMCID: PMC3312744

NIHMSID: NIHMS363930

Determinants of Food Allergy

Madhan Masilamani, PhD,^a,b Scott Commins, MD, PhD,^c and Wayne Shreffler, MD, PhD^d,*

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The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Immunol Allergy Clin North Am

SUMMARY

Much has been learned by identifying the molecules that can be recognized by IgE from patients with allergies. Increasingly, by correlating patterns of sensitization with clinical features, it has become possible to distinguish molecules responsible for primary sensitization (complete allergens) from those that are more likely cross-reactive targets. In the case of animal allergens, evolutionary distance seems to be an important factor in determining allergenicity. However, until more is understood regarding the mechanistic details of primary sensitization, including the participation of molecules that stimulate innate immune responses and the repertoire of T-cell antigens, molecules that may or may not themselves be important B-cell antigens, we will not be able to explain fundamental questions, such as why peanut allergy is more severe than soy allergy or why tick exposure is associated with clinically relevant sensitization to a carbohydrate epitope.

Keywords: Food allergy, Allergen, Plant food allergens, Animal food allergens, Peanut, Soy, Cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants, Alpha-gal

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