IgE and IgG4 responses to shrimp allergen tropomyosin and its epitopes in patients from coastal areas of northern China

Abstract

Sensitization to allergens and their peptides varies among patients due to geographical or ethnic differences. The present study aimed to investigate immunoglobulin (Ig)E and IgG4 responses to tropomyosin and its peptides in shrimp allergic patients from northern China. A total of 92 subjects were studied, including 35 shrimp allergic patients, 29 patients with house dust mite (HDM) and/or cockroach allergic patients and 28 healthy volunteers. Serum IgE and IgG4 antibodies to recombinant shrimp tropomyosin (rPen a 1) and its peptides were measured by means of a light-initiated chemiluminescent assay. A total of 9 major sequential epitopes of Pen a 1 reported in the literature were synthesized. Of 35 shrimp allergic patients, 25 (71.4%) had positive Pen 1‑specific IgE (sIgE) antibodies and 22 (62.9%) contained measurable rPen a 1-specific IgG4 (sIgG4) antibodies. A strong IgG4 response accompanied the presence of IgE to Pen a 1. None of the patients with HDM and/or cockroach allergy demonstrated IgE reactivity to rPen a 1. The reaction frequency of IgE binding epitope was 20-48%, while that of IgG4 binding epitope was 63.6-90.9%. The IgE and IgG4 recognition patterns of the tropomyosin peptides demonstrated high interpatient heterogeneity. Diversity of IgE binding epitopes was positively correlated with Pen a 1 sIgE levels. In the study population, tropomyosin was a major allergen recognized by the majority of shrimp allergic patients, which is consistent with previous reports. However, none of the 9 epitopes are major (reaction frequency >50%) IgE-binding regions, indicating the epitopes profile may be different in other regions.