Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar;14(2):210-219.
doi: 10.4168/aair.2022.14.2.210.

Defining Biomarkers to Predict Natural Resolution in Shrimp Allergy

Surapon Piboonpocanun  1 , Suttipong Ittiporn  2 , Pisit Ubonsri  1 , Anchalee Wangtan  2 , Punchama Pacharn  2 , Nualanong Visitsunthorn  2 , Orathai Jirapongsananuruk  3
Affiliations

Defining Biomarkers to Predict Natural Resolution in Shrimp Allergy

Surapon Piboonpocanun et al. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: Tolerance to shrimp has been reported in some patients with a history of shrimp allergy. The predictors of the natural resolution of shrimp allergy have not been widely explored. This study aimed to investigate the role of specific IgE (sIgE) and specific IgG4 (sIgG4) to shrimp extracts and the cross-reactive shrimp allergens tropomyosin (TM), arginine kinase (AK) and myosin light-chain (MLC), as markers of persistent or resolved shrimp allergy (PSA or RSA).

Methods: Seventeen patients with a 10-year history of allergy to Penaeus monodon (Pm) and/or Macrobachium rosenbergii (Mr) were recruited. Oral shrimp challenges identified 10 patients with PSA and 7 patients with RSA. Sera from these patients were evaluated for sIgE and sIgG4 to Mr and Pm extracts as well as to TM, AK and MLC.

Results: The levels of sIgE to Mr and Pm extracts were lower in the RSA than in the PSA groups (P = 0.05 and P = 0.008, respectively), but sIgG4 or sIgG4:sIgE ratio did not show statistical significance. The sIgE to AK and MLC, but not TM, were lower in the RSA group than in the PSA group (P = 0.009 and P = 0.0008, respectively). There was no difference in sIgG4 to TM, AK and MLC between both groups. The ratio of sIgG4:sIgE to MLC, but not TM or AK, was higher in the RSA than in the PSA group (P = 0.02). A higher diversity of sIgE to shrimp components was found in the PSA group than in the RSA group (P = 0.006).

Conclusions: Specific bioassays can be used to identify patients with RSA. Oral shrimp challenges in these patients may provide a higher rate of passing the challenges and finally reintroducing shrimp in their diet.

Keywords: Food hypersensitivity; arginine kinase; biomarkers; crustacea; immune tolerance; immunoglobulin E; myosin light-chains; shrimp; tropomyosin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no financial or other issues that might lead to conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. The levels of sIgE, sIgG4 and the ratios of sIgG4:sIgE to allergens in Mr and Pm shrimp extracts in PSA and RSA groups.
The dotted lines are presented as OD650 nm values of bound antibodies from non-allergic donors. Each plotted symbol represents duplicate data from each patient. sIgE, specific IgE; sIgG4, specific IgG4; Mr, Macrobrachium rosenbergii; Pm, Penaeus monodon; PSA, persistent shrimp allergy; RSA, resolved shrimp allergy.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. The levels of sIgE, sIgG4 and the ratios of sIgG4:sIgE to shrimp cross-reactive allergens in PSA and RSA groups.
Each plotted symbol represents duplicate data of one patient. sIgE, specific IgE; sIgG4, specific IgG4; PSA, persistent shrimp allergy; RSA, resolved shrimp allergy; TM, tropomyosin; AK, arginine kinase; MLC, myosin light-chain.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. The number of allergens bound to each patient’s sIgE and sIgG4 in PSA and RSA groups. Each symbol represents one patient.
PSA, persistent shrimp allergy; RSA, resolved shrimp allergy; sIgE, specific IgE; sIgG4, specific IgG4.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wai CYY, Leung NYH, Chu KH, Leung PSC, Leung ASY, Wong GWK, et al. Overcoming shellfish allergy: how far have we come? Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21:2234. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lopata AL, Kleine-Tebbe J, Kamath SD. Allergens and molecular diagnostics of shellfish allergy: Part 22 of the Series Molecular Allergology. Allergo J Int. 2016;25:210–218. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Santadusit S, Atthapaisalsarudee S, Vichyanond P. Prevalence of adverse food reactions and food allergy among Thai children. J Med Assoc Thai. 2005;88(Suppl 8):S27–S32. - PubMed
    1. Jirapongsananuruk O, Bunsawansong W, Piyaphanee N, Visitsunthorn N, Thongngarm T, Vichyanond P. Features of patients with anaphylaxis admitted to a university hospital. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2007;98:157–162. - PubMed
    1. Ganapathy S, Lwin Z, Ting DH, Goh LS, Chong SL. Anaphylaxis in children: experience of 485 episodes in 1,272,482 patient attendances at a tertiary paediatric emergency department from 2007 to 2014. Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2016;45:542–548. - PubMed