Abstract
Food allergy has been rising in prevalence over the last two decades, affecting more than 10% of the world population. Current management of IgE-mediated food allergy relies on avoidance and rescue medications; research into treatments that are safer and providing guaranteed and durable curative effects is, therefore, essential. T-cell epitope-based immunotherapy holds the potential for modulating food allergic responses without IgE cross-linking. In this chapter, we describe the methods in evaluating the therapeutic capacities of immunodominant T-cell epitopes in animal models of food allergy. Moreover, we explain in detail the methods to measure the allergen-specific antibody levels, prepare single-cell suspension from spleen, and prepare small intestine for immunohistochemical analysis of eosinophils and Foxp3+ cells.
Keywords:
Cow’s milk allergy; ELISA; Egg allergy; Eosinophils; Immunohistochemical staining (IHC); Mouse model; Oral immunotherapy (OIT); Regulatory T cell (Treg); Shellfish allergy; Swiss roll.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Adjuvants, Immunologic / administration & dosage
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Administration, Oral
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Allergens / administration & dosage*
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Aluminum Hydroxide / administration & dosage
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Animals
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Cholera Toxin / administration & dosage
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Desensitization, Immunologic / methods*
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Disease Models, Animal*
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Egg Hypersensitivity / immunology
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Egg Hypersensitivity / pathology
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Egg Hypersensitivity / therapy*
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Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / methods
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Eosinophils / drug effects
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Eosinophils / immunology
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Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / chemistry
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Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / immunology
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Female
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Humans
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Immunoglobulin E / genetics
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Immunoglobulin E / immunology
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Immunohistochemistry / methods
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Intestines / drug effects
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Intestines / immunology
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Mice
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Mice, Inbred BALB C
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Milk Hypersensitivity / immunology
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Milk Hypersensitivity / pathology
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Milk Hypersensitivity / therapy*
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Peptides / immunology
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Peptides / pharmacology*
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Shellfish Hypersensitivity / immunology
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Shellfish Hypersensitivity / pathology
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Shellfish Hypersensitivity / therapy*
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Spleen / drug effects
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Spleen / immunology
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T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / drug effects
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T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology
Substances
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Adjuvants, Immunologic
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Allergens
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Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
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Peptides
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Immunoglobulin E
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Aluminum Hydroxide
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Cholera Toxin