Characterization of a hypoallergenic wheat line lacking ω-5 gliadin

Background: There is no curative treatment for wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). omega-5 Gliadin is one of the dominant allergens affecting WDEIA patients. The use of omega-5 gliadinfree wheat flour in the regular diet is considered one of the prophylactic approaches against the elicitation of allergic symptoms and sensitization to omega-5 gliadin. We sought to find hypoallergenic bread wheat (or common wheat) that lacked the genes encoding omega-5 gliadin and to evaluate its in vitro allergenicity. We also aimed to evaluate the sensitization ability of one of the selected hypoallergenic wheat lines by using a possible animal model of wheat allergy. Methods: We screened the deletion lines of bread wheat by western blotting to ascertain commonwheat lines lacking the omega-5 gliadin locus. The deletion lines we used have partial deficiency of chromosome 1B (Endo and Gill, 1996). To assess sensitization ability of gluten from the selected deletion line, guinea pigs were fed with either the gluten from the selected deletion line or commercially available gluten, and allergic score was evaluated after challenging the same gluten preparations. Results: We found that a deletion line 1BS-18 had the least deficiency of chromosome 1B among the deletion stocks lacking the omega-5 gliadin locus. The challenge test using the guinea pigs revealed that the symptoms induced by application of the 1BS-18 gluten were much less than that of commercially available gluten. Conclusions: The deletion line 1BS-18, which lacked the omega-5 gliadin locus, is likely to have a low sensitization capacity in the guinea pig. The use of the wheat products of the 1BS-18 line in daily life may provide a feasible solution for the onset of wheat allergy. Copyright (C) 2016, Japanese Society of Allergology. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.