Allergenicity of main birch allergen rBet v1 and high-pressure treatment

The aim of our study was to determine the influence of high-pressure treatment on the structure and allergenicity of recombinant rBet v1, the main birch allergen and birch pollen extract. We treated the buffered solutions of rBet v1 and birch pollen extract with high pressure (450-550MPa) for a period of 10min at temperatures between 30 and 50 degrees C. The structural changes in rBet v1 were studied using circular dichroism spectra. The greatest changes in the rBet v1 structure were found in the samples treated at 450MPa at 30 degrees C. The samples treated at 500 and 550MPa at 30 degrees C (10min) did not show any structural changes. The allergenic reaction to rBet v1 and the birch pollen extract was tested using Western blot analysis. Pressures of 450-550MPa (10min) at temperatures of 30, 40 and 50 degrees C did not change the allergenicity of the rBet v1 protein or the birch pollen extract when compared with untreated samples.