LAUSR

BACKGROUND Snail allergy is rare but can be fatal. Pila polita, a freshwater snail was considered as a popular exotic food particularly in tropical countries and consumed in processed forms. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify the major and cross-reactive allergens of P. polita and determine the impact of food processing on the allergen stability. RESULTS SDS-PAGE fractionated raw snail extract to approximately 24 protein bands, between 9 to 245 kDa. The prominent band at 33 kDa was detected in all raw and processed snail extracts. Immunoblotting tests of the raw extract demonstrated 19 IgE-binding proteins and four of them at 30, 35, 42 and 49 kDa were revealed as the major IgE-binding proteins of P. polita. MALDI-TOF identified the 49 kDa and 42 kDa major allergens as actin, while the 30 and 35 kDa major allergens were identified as tropomyosin. Immunoblotting revealed that the raw snail had more allergenic proteins than the processed snail. The degree of allergenicity in the decreasing order was: raw > brine pickled> boiled > roasted > fried > vinegar pickled. The presence of cross-reactivity between P. polita and the shellfish tested was exhibited, with either none, complete or partial inhibitions. CONCLUSION Actin and tropomyosin were identified as the major and cross-reactive allergens of P. polita among local patients with snail allergy. Those major allergens are highly stable to high temperatures, acidic pH and high salt, which might played a crucial role in snail allergy in this country. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.