Application potential of proteolytic lactic acid bacteria in the reduction of the allergenicity of bovine milk proteins

Abstract

The Cow Milk Allergy (CMA) is a problem of human health which affects 2,5% of children under the age of 3 years. This allergy is related with the recognition and binding of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) to the epitopes present in the milk proteins. The ingestion of bovine milk by CMA patients can trigger the development of gastrointestinal and dermatological symptoms, asthma, rhinitis and, in more severe cases, systemic anaphylaxis. An alternative to reduce the allergenic response of milk proteins is the hydrolysis of these proteins by proteolytic enzimes produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB), capable to break the epitopes responsible for the binding with the IgE. Therefore, the study of new LAB strains, capable to hydrolyse the milk proteins responsable to cause CMA, can help in the development of new hypoallergenic dairy products. The aim of this post-doc project is to select new proteolytic strains among the LAB belonging to the culture collection of the Food Microbiology Laboratory from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences - University of São Paulo (FCF-USP) and to evaluate their potential application in the reduction of the allergenicity of bovine milk proteins, by the investigation of the proteolytic activity of these strains, against the main proteins responsable to CMA, and the assessment of the IgE capability to bind to the peptides released after the protein hydrolysis. This project will be carried out with the colaboration of Dr.Cristina Miuki Abe Jacob from the School of Medicine from USP and intend continue a joint project that has been developed with the researchers from the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA-Nantes, France). (AU)