Brief Reports
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2005. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2005; 11(34): 5381-5384
Published online Sep 14, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i34.5381
Studies on BN rats model to determine the potential allergenicity of proteins from genetically modified foods
Xu-Dong Jia, Ning Li, Yong-Ning Wu, Xiao-Guang Yang
Xu-Dong Jia, Ning Li, Yong-Ning Wu, Xiao-Guang Yang, National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 Nanwei Road, Beijing 100050, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the State 863 Projects, No. 2001AA212291 and 2002AA212041 and the State 973 Project, No. 001CB109007
Correspondence to: Dr. Ning Li, National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 Nanwei Road, Beijing 100050, China. lining65@yahoo.com
Telephone: +86-10-83132553 Fax: +86-10-83132021
Received: December 17, 2004
Revised: March 20, 2005
Accepted: March 24, 2005
Published online: September 14, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To develop a Brown Norway (BN) rat model to determine the potential allergenicity of novel proteins in genetically modified food.

METHODS: The allergenicity of different proteins were compared, including ovalbumin (OVA), a potent respiratory and food allergen, bovine serum albumin (BSA), a protein that is considered to have a lesser allergenic potential, and potato acid phosphatase (PAP), a non-allergenic protein when administered to BN rats via different routes of exposure (intraperitoneally or by gavage). IgG and IgE antibody responses were determined by ELISA and PCA, respectively. An immunoassay kit was used to determine the plasma histamine level. In addition, possible systemic effect of allergens was investigated by monitoring blood pressure.

RESULTS: OVA provoked very vigorous protein-specific IgG and IgE responses, low grade protein-specific IgG and IgE responses were elicited by BSA, while by neither route did PAP elicit anything. In either routes of exposure, plasma histamine level in BN rats sensitized with OVA was higher than that of BSA or PAP. In addition, an oral challenge with BSA and PAP did not induce any effect on blood pressure, while a temporary drop in systolic blood pressure in few animals of each routes of exposure was found by an oral challenge with OVA.

CONCLUSION: BN rat model might be a useful and predictive animal model to study the potential allergenicity of novel food proteins.

Keywords: Animal model; Food protein; Allergenicity