Quantitation of Blomia tropicalis Allergen Blo t 5 in Cereal and Cereal-Based
Foods Consumed in the Nile Delta, Egypt
Atef H. Hussein* and Waleed Elawamy
Department of Parasitology, Benha Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt
* Address correspondence to Atef H. Hussein, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Farid
Nada Street, 13518 Benha, Egypt. E-mail: atef.abdelhamid@fmed.bu.edu.eg
Abstract.
The mite Blomia tropicalis has significant prevalence worldwide. Blo t 5 is a major B. tropicalis allergen that
has been associated with sensitization and allergic symptoms in many asthmatic patients. Besides house dust,
contaminated foodstuffs are an important source of exposure to B. tropicalis allergens. In this study, a double
sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using mAb 4D4 and biotinylated mAb 4G9 was done
to detect Blo t 5 allergen in different types of raw and processed foods, including wheat, corn, rice, bean, wheat
and corn flour, cake, and rusk, which were collected from retail stores in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Out of 88
samples, 38 (43.2%) were positive for Blo t 5 allergen with no significant statistical difference in positivity
according to food type. In positive samples, the Blo t 5 concentration ranged from 20 ng/g to 800 ng/g. This
study showed that Blo t 5 should be considered as an important allergen that presents a risk to the Egyptian
population and should become a routine allergen in the skin prick test to improve the management of allergic
disease. |
