Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis PARD Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease 1225-679X The Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease 10.7581/pard.2012.22.4.390 Original Article Comparative Analysis of Immunoreactivity between Individual Serum and Pooled Serum in Serum Screening Lee Jinyoung 1 2 Lee Jeong Ok PhD 1 2 Kim Jihyun MD 2 3 Han Youngshin PhD 2 3 Ahn Kangmo MD 2 3 Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Korea. Environmental Health Center for Atopic Diseases, Seoul, Korea. Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. Corresponding author (kmaped@skku.edu) 12 2012 31 12 2012 22 4 390 396 05 05 2012 31 05 2012 10 12 2012 Copyright © 2012 The Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease 2012 Purpose

Serum screening test to detect specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) is an important step for the assessment of potential allergenicity of genetically modified (GM) food. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of pooled serum for serum screening instead of individual serum.

 Methods

Children with allergic disease were recruited and those who were sensitized to peanut or egg white were selected to obtain their sera. Sensitization to these foods was determined when the level of specific IgE was over 0.35 kU/L by ImmunoCAP. The patients were divided into subgroups according to their level of specific IgE. Raw proteins were extracted and immunoblot analysis was performed to compare the immunoreactivity between individual serum and pooled serum.

 Results

Pooled serum from peanut-sensitized allergic children showed all the bands which were shown in immunoblot analysis by using individual serum and peanut protein extract. These findings were demonstrated both in pooled serum with low level of peanut-specific IgE and in those with high level of peanut-specific IgE. Likewise, there was no difference in the immunoreactivity between individual serum and pooled serum from egg white-sensitized allergic children.

 Conclusion

Pooled serum can be used as an alternative to individual serum for the serum screening in the allergenicity assessment of GM food.

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Comparison of immunoreactivity between individual and pooled serum with positive peanut-specific immunoglobulin E by immunoblotting analysis. B, blank; N, normal control; P1, pooled serum from patient 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; P2, pooled serum from patient 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Comparison of immunoreactivity between individual and pooled serum with positive egg white-specific immunoglobulin E by immunoblotting analysis. B, blank; N, normal control; P1, pooled serum from patient 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; P2, pooled serum from patient 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; P3, pooled serum from patient 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Age, Sex and Peanut-Specific Immunoglobulin E (IgE) Level in Those Patients Whose Sera Were Used in This Study

Age, Sex and Egg White-Specific Immunoglobulin E (IgE) Level in Those Patients Whose Sera Were Used in This Study