Inflammatory Diseases and Resections of the Digestive Tract Influence the Risk of Circulating Food-Specific-IgG

Objectives: Individuals affected with inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract or have had surgical removal of sections of the digestive tract are often in need to adjust their diet. The symptomatology associated with food intake issues is often informally reported as food sensitivity.We investigated the circulating food-specific-IgG among ten conditions. Conclusions: The risk of the having circulating food-specific IgG differed widely among the conditions investigated. The maintenance of a colonic environment might influence the risk of food sensitivity in ostomates

Effect of Storage Time and Temperature on the Recovery of Milk and Peanut Residue from Environmental Swabs

Environmental swabs of shared processing equipment are commonly utilized by the food industry during cleaning validation studies. Some of these swabs are sent to 3rd party laboratories for evaluation. However, the recovery of protein residues of allergenic foods between the time of swabbing and time of testing has yet to be systematically studied. The objective of this study was to determine the recovery of allergen residues (peanut and milk) from swabs held at different holding times and temperatures. Commercial ELISAs (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays) were evaluated to determine allergen residue recovery from swabs inoculated with known amounts of peanut and Non-Fat Dry Milk (NFDM). For each allergen, 100, 50, and 25 ppm peanut flour or NFDM were prepared and each spiked onto Neogen Environmental Swabs (Product No. 8432S) which were stored at room temperature (RT), 37, 4, and -20°C for 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days. Subsequently, swabs were tested using the commercial Veratox® for Peanut and Veratox® for Total Milk Allergen Quantitative ELISA Test kits from Neogen Corp. (Lansing, MI) and the Peanut Protein ELISA kit from Morinaga Institute of Biological Science, Inc. (Japan). While both allergens were detected by ELISA on day 14 at all four storage temperatures, the percentage recovery decreased from day 0 to14 with the greatest decrease occurring from day 0 to 1. For swabs spiked with peanut and tested with the Veratox for Peanut ELISA kit, the largest decrease was observed at RT and 37 °C (3-6-fold decrease in recovery). However, only a 2-fold decrease in recovery was observed with peanut swabs stored at 4 °C and -20 °C, with the highest recovery observed from swabs stored at -20 °C. When peanut spiked swabs were analyzed using the Morinaga peanut ELISA kit, less variation in recovery was observed from day 0 to 14 at all four storage temperatures and at all three spike levels. For all swabs, there was a less than 2-fold decrease in recovery from days 0-14. For swabs spiked with NFDM, the percent recoveries decreased between 2-3-fold when stored at RT and 37 °C and ~2-fold when stored at 4 °C and -20 °C. The apparent recovery of peanut and NFDM decreases when the swabs are stored for extended times at higher temperatures but were minimally affected when stored at 4 or -20 °C. These results indicate that testing laboratories and the food industry should transport swabs at 4 or -20 °C. However, these results are limited to the Neogen Environmental Swabs and the evaluated test kits. Further evaluation of additional protein targets and ELISAs is warranted to determine if these results are consistent for alternate targets and extractions

Status of Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Remaining Challenges

PMC6446912Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus is a major cause of liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. After the discovery of hepatitis C virus 3 decades ago, the identification of the structure of the viral proteins, combined with high-throughput replicon models, enabled the discovery and development of direct-acting antivirals. These agents have revolutionized patient care, with cure rates of more than 90%. We review the status of direct-acting antiviral therapies for hepatitis C virus infection and discuss remaining challenges. We highlight licensed compounds, discuss the potential to shorten therapy even further, and review different options for treatment failure and resistance. We also provide an overview of clinical experience with generic agents and evidence for their efficacy. Finally, we discuss the need for new drugs and outline promising targets for future therapies

Small bowel stomas are associated with higher risk of circulating food-specific-IgG than patients with organic gastrointestinal conditions and colostomies

Objective The effects of food sensitivity can easily be masked by other digestive symptoms in ostomates and are unknown. We investigated food-specific- IgG presence in ostomates relative to participants affected by other digestive diseases. Design Food-specific- IgG was evaluated for 198 participants with a panel of 109 foods. Immunocompetency status was also tested. Jejunostomates, ileostomates and colostomates were compared with individuals with digestive tract diseases with inflammatory components (periodontitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, duodenitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and appendicitis), as well as food malabsorption due to intolerance. A logistic regression model with covariates was used to estimate the effect of the experimental data and demographic characteristics on the likelihood of the immune response. Results Jejunostomates and ileostomates had a significant risk of presenting circulating food-specific- IgG in contrast to colostomates (OR 12.70 (p=0.002), 6.19 (p=0.011) and 2.69 (p=0.22), respectively). Crohn’s disease, eosinophilic esophagitis and food malabsorption groups also showed significantly elevated risks (OR 4.67 (p=0.048), 8.16 (p=0.016) and 18.00 (p=0.003), respectively), but not the ulcerative colitis group (OR 2.05 (p=0.36)). Individuals with profoundly or significantly reduced, and mild to moderately reduced, levels of total IgG were protected from the formation of food-specific IgG (OR 0.09 (p=\u3c0.001) and 0.33 (p=0.005), respectively). Males were at higher risk than females. Conclusion The strength of a subject’s immunocompetence plays a role in the intensity to which the humoral system responds via food-specific- IgG. An element of biogeography emerges in which the maintenance of a colonic space might influence the risk of having circulating food-specific- IgG in ostomates. Includes supplementary materials

Evaluation of a Handheld Gluten Detection Device

A portable, handheld gluten detection device, the Nima sensor, is now available for consumers wishing to determine if gluten is present in food. By U.S. regulation, gluten-free foods should contain \u3c 20 ppm of gluten. Thirteen gluten-free foods (muffins, three different types of bread, three different types of pasta, puffed corn snack, ice cream, meatballs, vinegar and oil salad dressing, oatmeal, and dark chocolate) were prepared; each food was spiked on a weight-to-weight basis with gluten levels of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 100 ppm before processing or preparation. Unprocessed and processed foods were tested with the handheld gluten sensor and by two gluten-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) on the basis of the R5 and G12 monoclonal antibodies, respectively. The portable gluten detection device detected gluten in all food types at the 30-ppm addition level, failing to detect gluten in only 5 (6.4%) of 78 subsamples. At the 20-ppm addition level, the portable gluten detection device failed to detect gluten in one type of pasta but detected gluten residues in 63 (87.5%) of 72 other subsamples. The device was able to detect gluten at the 10-ppm addition level in 9 of the 13 food matrices (41 of 54 subsamples, 75.9%) but not in the three types of pasta and the puffed corn snack. The gluten-sensing device did not perform reliably at the 5-ppm addition level in 11 of 13 food matrices (exceptions: ice cream and muffins). In contrast, the ELISA methods were highly reliable at gluten addition levels of ≥ 10 ppm in all food matrices. The portable gluten detection device yielded a low percentage of false-positive results (4 of 111, 3.6%) in these food matrices. Thus, this handheld portable gluten sensor performed reliably in the detection of gluten in foods having ≥ 20 ppm of added gluten with only 18 (5.9%) of 306 failures, if results of the one type of pasta are excluded. The device worked with greater reliability as the gluten levels in the foods increased

Challenges in Gluten Analysis: A Comparison of Four Commercial Sandwich ELISA Kits

Gluten is composed of prolamin and glutelin proteins from several related grains. Because these proteins are not present in identical ratios in the various grains and because they have some differences in sequence, the ability to accurately quantify the overall amount of gluten in various food matrices to support gluten-free labeling is difficult. Four sandwich ELISAs (the R-Biopharm AG R5 RIDASCREEN®, the Neogen Veratox® R5, the Romer Labs AgraQuant® G12, and the Morinaga Wheat kits) were evaluated for their performance to quantify gluten concentrations in various foods and ingredients. The Morinaga and AgraQuant® G12 tests yielded results comparable to the two R5 kits for most, but not for certain, foods. The results obtained with the Morinaga kit were lower when compared to the other kits for analyzing powders of buckwheat and several grass-based products. All four kits were capable of detecting multiple gluten-containing grain sources including wheat, rye, barley, semolina, triticale, spelt, emmer, einkorn, Kamut™, and club wheat. Users of the ELISA kits should verify the performance in their hands, with matrices that are typical for their specific uses. The variation in results for some food matrices between test methods could result in trade disputes or regulatory disagreements

Wild Buckwheat Is Unlikely to Pose a Risk to Buckwheat-Allergic Individuals

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a commonly allergenic food especially in Asia where buckwheat is more commonly consumed. Wild buckwheat (Polygonum convolvulus, recently changed to Fallopia convolvulus) is an annual weed prevalent in grain-growing areas of the United States. Wild buckwheat is not closely related to edible buckwheat although the seeds do have some physical resemblance. A large shipment of wheat into Japan was halted by the discovery of the adventitious presence of wild buckwheat seeds over possible concerns for buckwheat-allergic consumers. However, IgE-binding was not observed to an extract of wild buckwheat using sera from 3 buckwheat-allergic individuals either by radio-allergosorbent test inhibition or by immunoblotting after protein separation by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Furthermore, the extract of wild buckwheat was not detected in a buckwheat enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay developed with antisera against common buckwheat. Thus, wild buckwheat is highly unlikely to pose any risk to buckwheat-allergic individuals. The common names of plants should not be a factor in the risk assessment for possible cross-allergenicity

Evaluation and Comparison of the Species-Specificity of 3 Antiparvalbumin IgG Antibodies

Parvalbumin is a pan-allergen in fish and frogs that triggers IgE-mediated reactions in fish-allergic individuals. Previous studies demonstrated that antibodies raised against fish and frog parvalbumins displayed varying specificity for different fish species, and thus, the applicability of these antibodies for potential use in immunoassays to detect fish residues were limited. We aimed to determine the specificity of 3 IgG antibodies for various fish species. Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and IgG-immunoblotting were used to compare the reactivity of the polyclonal anticod parvalbumin antibody and the commercially available, monoclonal antifrog and monoclonal anticarp parvalbumin antibodies against raw muscle extracts of 29 fish species. All antibodies demonstrated varying specificities for different fish species. Of the 3 antibodies, the polyclonal anticod parvalbumin antibody is the most suitable for the detection of fish parvalbumins, as it showed reactivity to the widest range of species, including herring, pilchard, carp, pike, cod, pollock, haddock, cusk, hake, bluegill, tilapia, bass, grouper, trout, catfish, and perch, although detection was still limited for several key fish species

Measuring Parvalbumin Levels in Fish Muscle Tissue: Relevance of Muscle Locations and Storage Conditions

Fish is an allergenic food capable of provoking severe anaphylactic reactions. Parvalbumin is the major allergen identified in fish and frog muscles. Antibodies against fish and frog parvalbumin have been used to quantify parvalbumin levels from fish. However, these antibodies react variably with parvalbumin from different fish species. Several factors might be responsible for this variation including instability of parvalbumin in fish muscle as a result of frozen storage and differential parvalbumin expression in muscles from various locations within the whole fish. We aimed to investigate whether these factors contribute to the previously observed variable immunoreactivity of the anti-parvalbumin antibodies. Results showed the detection of parvalbumin by these antibodies was unaffected by frozen storage of muscles for 112 days. However, the parvalbumin content decreased in fish muscles from anterior to posterior positions. This factor may partially explain for the inconsistent reactivity of anti-parvalbumin antibodies to different fish species