Cereal grains, including wheat, barley, rye, maize, rice, and oats, are important sources of food and occupational allergens worldwide. Their allergenic proteins can trigger IgE-mediated food allergy, baker’s asthma, occupational respiratory allergy, and wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). Characterized cereal allergens and validated analytical reagents are essential tools for allergy research, component-resolved diagnostics (CRD), assay development, food allergen detection, and reference material production.
Major Cereal Allergenic Components
Wheat (Triticum aestivum)
- Tri a 19 (ω-5 gliadin): Major molecular marker of WDEIA.
- Tri a 14 (nsLTP): Associated with food allergy and baker’s asthma.
- Additional clinically relevant allergens include α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors, Tri a 20 and Tri a 21 (gliadins), Tri a 26 and Tri a 36 (glutenins), and other IgE-binding proteins implicated in food and occupational allergy.
Barley and Rye
- Hordeins and secalins are major prolamin storage proteins that exhibit significant immunological cross-reactivity with wheat allergens.
Maize (Zea mays)
- Zea m 14 (nsLTP): Major maize food allergen.
- Zea m 1 (β-expansin): Major maize pollen allergen associated with respiratory sensitization.
Rice and Oats
- Contain allergenic globulins, prolamins, α-amylase inhibitors, and lipid transfer proteins implicated in IgE sensitization and, in some individuals, cross-reactivity with other cereal allergens.
Research Reagents
- Recombinant and purified natural allergens.
- Allergen extracts and reference materials.
- Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies.
- ELISA standards and calibration materials.
- DNA reference materials and certified PCR controls.
- CRD-compatible allergen components for IgE profiling.
Key Features
- High purity and batch-to-batch consistency.
- Suitable for ELISA, multiplex immunoassays, Western blotting, mass spectrometry, and, when provided as DNA reference materials, PCR-based allergen detection assays.
- Supports allergen characterization, biomarker discovery, food safety testing, diagnostic standardization, and regulatory research applications.