Seafood Allergy and Allergens: A Review

Seafoods are composed of diverse sea organisms and humans are allergic to many of them. Tropomyosin is a major allergen in many shellfish, especially crustacea and mollusks. Interestingly, tropomyosin has also been identified as an important allergen in other invertebrates including dust mites and cockroaches, and it has been proposed by some to be an invertebrate pan allergen. Different regions of shrimp tropomyosin bind IgE; 5 major IgE-binding regions have been identified in shrimp tropomyosin containing 8 epitopes. Mutations of these shrimp allergenic epitopes can reduce seafood allergenicity; methods utilizing such mutations will provide safer vaccines for more effective treatment of seafood-allergic patients, and in the future less-allergenic seafood products for consumption. Current address: (R. Ayuso) St. John's Episcopal Hospital, South Shore 327 Beach 19th St., Far Rockaway, NY 11691, U.S.A. Current address: (G. Reese) Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Department of Allergology, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 51-59, D-63225 Langen, Germany