Molecular diagnosis of cow’s milk allergy

Cow’s milk allergy is the most common allergic disease in infancy. About 80% of protein is present  in the solid milk fraction (caseins, casein complex), and about 20% in the liquid milk fraction (whey). Whey contains α-lactalbumin (Bos  d 4), β-lactoglobulin (Bos d 5), bovine serum albumin (Bos d 6), immunoglobulins (Bos d 7) and  lactoferrin. Total casein (Bos d 8) consists of four different fractions: αS1-casein (Bos d 9),  αS2-casein (Bos d 10), β-casein (Bos d 11) and κ-casein (Bos d 12). Determination of these  individual allergen molecules is carried out using the so-called component resolved diagnostics  (CRD), which allows identification of major (Bos d 4 and Bos d 5 and all casein molecules), minor  (Bos d 6, Bos d 7 and lactoferrin), as well as cross-reactive (Bos d 5 and Bos d 6) allergen  molecules. Future research will make it possible to assess diagnostic role of detecting individual  allergen molecules. Progress is also expected in the field of molecular biology, genomics,  proteomics and bioinformatics.
Keywords: ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY; MILK; CHILD; PATHOLOGY, MOLECULAR
Category: Review
Volume: Vol. 65, No 1, january - march 2021
Authors: Anica Džajić, Iva Topalušić, Asja Stipić Marković
Reference work: Paediatr Croat. 2021;65:43-8
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13112/PC.2021.7

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