Characterized allergens causing bakers' asthma

Abstract

Although airborne allergens in bakeries and confectioneries cause one of the most common forms of occupational asthma, namely, bakers' asthma, only a few of them are known in detail so far. Here we summarize current knowledge of bakery allergens and describe our own two‐dimensional (2‐D) immunoelectrophoresis studies of wheat‐flour allergens as well as the allergenic baking enzyme Asp o 2. Out of approximately 700 soluble wheat polypeptides, 70 show IgE binding; the following wheat‐flour allergens could be identified and characterized: members of the a‐amylase inhibitor family (14–18 kDa), acyl‐CoA oxidase (26 kDa), peroxidase (36 kDa), and fructose‐bisphosphate aldolase (37 kDa). However, the great majority ofthe soluble wheat‐flour allergens, mainly located in the 27‐, 55‐, and 70‐kDa areas of the 2‐D immunoblots with pi values of 5.8–6.8, 5.9–6.5, and 5.5–6.1, respectively, are not known at present. Asp o 2, to which approximately 25% of all bakers with respiratory symptoms are sensitized, is a well‐characterized starch‐cleaving enzyme. We conclude that great effort is still needed to describe all major wheat‐flour allergens. As shown by Asp o 2, knowledge of the causative allergens and their characteristics enables us to initiate very effective preventive measures such as the introduction of granulated allergenic products.