title: Food allergy and cross-reactivity-chickpea as a test case.
abstract: Chickpea has become one of the most abundant crops consumed in the Mediterranean and also in western world. Chickpea allergy is reported in specific geographic areas and is associated with lentil and/or pea allergy. We investigated cross-reactivity between chickpea and pea/lentil/soybean/hazelnut. The IgE-binding profiles of chickpea globulin and pea/lentil/soybean/hazelnut extracts were analyzed by immunoblotting and immunoblot-inhibition studies. Inhibition-assay with pea/lentil completely suppressed IgE-binding to chickpea globulin allergens, while not so in the reciprocal inhibition. Pre-absorption of sera with chickpea globulin caused the disappearance of IgE-binding to protein on an immunoblot of soybean/hazelnut protein extract. These results suggest that cross-reactivity exists between chickpea and pea/lentil/soybean/hazelnut. Chickpea allergy is associated with lentil and/or pea allergy, but evidently may not present independently. This, together with the described asymmetric cross-reactivity and phylogenetic aspects, suggest that chickpea allergy is merely an expression of cross-reactivity, caused by pea and/or lentil as the "primary" allergen.
authors.affiliation: The School of Nutritional Sciences, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Shimrit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bar-El Dadon
authors.affiliation: Servicio de alergologia, Hospital Universitario Infanta Sofia, Paseo de Europa 34, San Sebastian de los Reyes, 28702 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.affiliation: The School of Nutritional Sciences, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100 Rehovot, Israel. Electronic address: ram.reifen@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Ram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reifen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D029863:Cicer / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D031211:Corylus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D005916:Globulins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D027806:Lens Plant / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D052179:Antigens, Plant; D005916:Globulins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E
keywords: Chickpea; Cross-reactivity; Food allergy; Legumes; Pan-allergens