food are not immunogenic???

[akshita]

hi there can anyone tell me y the foods we take do not cause any immunogeniic reactions if they too are made of basic constituents that other immunogenic components r made of?

[aftabac]

well as you probably know that when we take in any food that is broken down into its basic constituents, i.e. carbohydrates into monosaccharides, protein into amino acids and fats into glycerol and fatty acids and these basic constituents are absorbed finally into blood. and these basic units of food are not immunogenic at al, so food is not immunogenic in nature.
regards
aftab

[greeneye555]

Well, foods do cause immunogenic reactions.

I think people with severe food allergies can attest to that.

[admin]

Yes, that is a very interesting question. Why and how do some people have allergies to certain foods ie peanuts?

Obviously if someone was allergic to amino acids or basic food chemicals they would be dead in utero... However this raises the question why and how some people get allergic to say peanuts.

It must be something to do with the immunological systems in the gut and peptide presentation. Some peptides in the gut have to be shown during the development of the immune system. If these peptides are not shown, and are not recognized then later in life the body can launch an immune response. Usually this is TH2 mediated ie IL-4, and IL-5. Interestingly, in developing countries there is little or no food allergies or asthma.
The thought is that there is more infections especially viral driving a mainly Th1 response (IFN-gamma) in those countries that have less atopy (allergies / asthma).

There are many unanswered questions though... maybe someone that is an expert in this area can help.

A good example is how does someone have severe food allergies can go into shock / die from airborne peanut aerosols!?!

Cheers

[aftabac]

Hi
yes food are immunogenic in some cases, but it is very rare case, that food act as immunogen and illicit an immune response but in general way food are not immunogenic.
need some more comments
regards
aftab

[greeneye555]

Well aftab, I can't comment on how rare it is that immunogenic responses happen with food. There is such a wide range of allergic reactions to food between individuals, and the circumstances: what type of food, how it's prepared, the degree of the allergy, family history, age. The list goes on.

In my case, my mother (who belongs to one of those developing countries the admin mentioned) had no allergies in her youth. But developed severe allergies later in life: wasp/bee stings, certain shellfish, peanuts, lamb, just to name a few. She has to take her shots with her at all times. If she eats something by accident, she goes into anaphylactic shock. My brother & I had horrible allergies when we were kids, to just about everything you can think of. When we got older, my brother's allergies disappeared. Mine did not. Although the majority of them went away, the ones that remained are very random & also life threatening. They include some of the same that my mother has.

Both my mother & I also have severe asthma reactions to certain things or in certain surroundings. But we are not regular asthmatics, i.e. I don't take a regular medicine for it. And I rarely have to use my inhaler.. maybe once/twice a year? My dad has no allergies whatsoever.

I can't vouch for other countries, but the US is usually very strict on laying guidelines for what should NOT be ingested by a mother during pregnancy, so as to avoid a current/future immune response in a developing child. Those rules & the overall distribution of information are not as well regulated in developing countries. There are papers on PubMed that discuss the possible causes for food immunogenic reponses in children, due to what was included in the mother's diet.

Despite the fact that I'm of mixed heritage, I find it interesting that my brother currently has no food allergies (like my caucasian father). And I still retained the severe food allergies (like my hispanic mother). Just by talking to members of our huge family spanning a few generations, it's obvious that my mother & I are the oddballs of the group when it comes to food allergies. None else on her side of the family has them.

Although I'm not discussing the molecular explanations in full, I hope this gives you some background from a person who deals with the immunogenic responses to food.

Here is a specific paper for you - immunogenic responses to peanuts.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum