重點實驗室最近在專業期刊《Food and Chemical Toxicology》雜誌上發表一篇題為「A BALB/c mouse model for assessing the potential allergenicity of proteins： Comparison of allergen dose，sensitization frequency，timepoint and sex」的學術論文。
隨著轉基因作物的快速發展，轉基因食品的安全性成為廣大民眾關心的問題，轉基因食品引起食物過敏的可能性是人們關注的焦點之一。BALB/c小鼠是近交高IgE應答品系，優先產生Th2 型免疫應答和IgE抗體，常被用來判定蛋白質的潛在致敏性。
本研究選用造模致敏原卵清蛋白（OVA），在本實驗室前期初步建立的BALB/c小鼠致敏性評價動物模型基礎上，對BALB/c小鼠腹腔注射致敏動物模型進行了完善。從致敏原劑量、致敏頻次、致敏周期以及動物性別四個方面進行研究。選用OVA特異性IgE和IgG1（OVA sIgE， sIgG1）作為判定終點。
綜合考慮OVA特異性IgE和IgG1的結果表明，在試驗第0、3、6、9、12天進行5次腹腔注射比第0、7天進行兩次2次腹腔注射能激發產生更高的OVA特異性IgE和IgG1，致敏周期宜選用28天，而性別則對致敏性無影響。同時，我們進一步對腹腔注射5次，每次給予0.05mg OVA的BALB/c小鼠在第28天取脾，進行脾細胞培養。用0.5 mg/ml OVA激發脾細胞兩天後，檢測細胞培養上清液中的細胞因子（IL-4和IFN-γ）。結果表明，試驗組IL-4含量顯著高於對照組，試驗組IFN-γ含量與對照組相比無顯著變化。依據本研究結果，在試驗第0、3、6、9、12天腹腔注射5次給予BALB/c小鼠0.05mg OVA，在試驗第28天取血檢測OVA特異性 IgE和IgG1，可建立較理想的BALB/c小鼠蛋白潛在致敏性評價動物模型。
目前，使用動物模型評價轉基因作物的致敏性，是國際上研究和開發的熱點領域。本研究為轉基因食品潛在致敏性蛋白的評價提供了一個更完善的BALB/c小鼠動物模型。為其能夠更好地應用於轉基因食品的致敏性評價體系中奠定了更堅實的基礎。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦的英文摘要
Food and Chemical Toxicology doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2013.08.004
A BALB/c mouse model for assessing the potential allergenicity of proteins： Comparison of allergen dose， sensitization frequency， timepoint and sex
Chen Chena， 1， Nana Sunb， 1， Yongning Lib， Xudong Jiab
The present study was to investigate the possibility of using the BALB/c mouse as an animal model for assessing the potential allergenicity of proteins.
Specific IgE and IgG1 against ovalbumin were induced by dosing BALB/c mice via intraperitoneal injection (absence of adjuvant). The effects of various allergen doses (5 mg， 0.5 mg or 0.05 mg OVA)， sensitization times (twice or five times)， timepoints (day 14 or day 28) and sex (male or female) were studied. IL-4， IFN-γ， OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
A general finding was that mice treated with 0.05 mg OVA had the highest OVA-specific IgE and IgG1， statistically significant higher specific IgE and IgG1 were observed in groups sensitized five times than twice， OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 on day 28 were statistically higher than day 14， and higher IL-4 was observed in OVA-allergic mice than control mice.
These results demonstrate that the BALB/c mouse model treated with 0.05 mg OVA intraperitoneally on days 0， 3， 6， 9， 12 might be used for further experiments. OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 should be detected on day 28. Further studies including reproducibility and other conditions were required before using the BALB/c mouse model for assessing the potential allergenicity of proteins.