CONTINUED EXPRESSION OF ANTI-SOY PROTEIN ANTIBODIES IN RATS BRED ON ASOY PROTEIN-FREE DIET FOR ONE GENERATION - THE IMPORTANCE OF DIETARY CONTROL IN ORAL SENSITIZATION RESEARCH
Lmj. Knippels et al., CONTINUED EXPRESSION OF ANTI-SOY PROTEIN ANTIBODIES IN RATS BRED ON ASOY PROTEIN-FREE DIET FOR ONE GENERATION - THE IMPORTANCE OF DIETARY CONTROL IN ORAL SENSITIZATION RESEARCH, Journal of allergy and clinical immunology, 101(6), 1998, pp. 815-820
Background: One of the major factors that may have negatively affected
the results of many oral sensitization studies in animals has been un
scheduled dietary preexposure of the test animals or their parental ge
nerations to the antigen under investigation. Objective: The influence
of dietary preexposure to soy protein on oral sensitization studies w
ith soy protein in Brown Norway rats was investigated. Methods: Brown
Norway rats bred on a soy protein-containing diet for several generati
ons (routine bred [RB] animals) were placed on a soy protein-free diet
during and for at least 6 months before breeding (F0 group). Four gen
erations of offspring were bred on a soy protein-free diet (F1, F2, F3
, and F4 groups). RB and F4 animals were exposed to soy protein either
ad libitum through drinking water or parenterally with an adjuvant. R
esults: In the F0 and F1 animals soy protein-specific IgG antibodies w
ere still detectable, whereas no soy protein-specific Ige was detectab
le in the other generations tested. In RE animals no significant incre
ase in soy protein-specific IgG titers occurred after exposure to soy
protein. Enteral exposure of the F4 animals to soy protein resulted in
sensitization to soy protein, with increased soy protein-specific IgG
titers. Conclusions: These studies demonstrate that there is a contin
ued expression of anti-soy protein antibodies in rats bred and raised
on a soy protein-free diet for one generation. Not only must the test
animals be bred and raised on a specified antigen-free diet, but their
parental generations must also be bred in the same manner to avoid an
y problems in oral sensitization studies.