Seafood allergy: A comprehensive review of fish and shellfish allergens

Thimo Ruethers; Aya C Taki; Elecia B Johnston; Roni Nugraha; Thu T K Le; Tanja Kalic; Thomas R McLean; Sandip D Kamath; Andreas L Lopata

doi:10.1016/j.molimm.2018.04.008

Seafood allergy: A comprehensive review of fish and shellfish allergens

Mol Immunol. 2018 Aug:100:28-57. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.04.008. Epub 2018 May 30.

Authors

Thimo Ruethers¹, Aya C Taki¹, Elecia B Johnston², Roni Nugraha³, Thu T K Le², Tanja Kalic⁴, Thomas R McLean⁵, Sandip D Kamath¹, Andreas L Lopata⁶

Affiliations

¹ Molecular Allergy Research Laboratory, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Food and Allergy Research, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
² Molecular Allergy Research Laboratory, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
³ Molecular Allergy Research Laboratory, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Department of Aquatic Product Technology, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia.
⁴ Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁵ Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Molecular Allergy Research Laboratory, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Food and Allergy Research, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia; Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. Electronic address: andreas.lopata@jcu.edu.au.

PMID: 29858102
DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.04.008

Abstract

Seafood refers to several distinct groups of edible aquatic animals including fish, crustacean, and mollusc. The two invertebrate groups of crustacean and mollusc are, for culinary reasons, often combined as shellfish but belong to two very different phyla. The evolutionary and taxonomic diversity of the various consumed seafood species poses a challenge in the identification and characterisation of the major and minor allergens critical for reliable diagnostics and therapeutic treatments. Many allergenic proteins are very different between these groups; however, some pan-allergens, including parvalbumin, tropomyosin and arginine kinase, seem to induce immunological and clinical cross-reactivity. This extensive review details the advances in the bio-molecular characterisation of 20 allergenic proteins within the three distinct seafood groups; fish, crustacean and molluscs. Furthermore, the structural and biochemical properties of the major allergens are described to highlight the immunological and subsequent clinical cross-reactivities. A comprehensive list of purified and recombinant allergens is provided, and the applications of component-resolved diagnostics and current therapeutic developments are discussed.

Keywords: Crustacean allergy; Fish allergy; IgE antibody; Mollusc allergy; Parvalbumin; Tropomyosin.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Allergens / immunology*
Animals
Cross Reactions / immunology
Fishes / immunology*
Food Hypersensitivity / immunology*
Humans
Seafood
Shellfish

Substances

Allergens