Table 2 Pros and Cons of different food allergy model design parameters
Design parameter | Sub-parameter | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
Reference proteins | Strong, weak and non-allergenic proteins | Confirm reproducibility and predictability | Requires additional groups of animals |
Animal species | Mice | Small size, short breeding cycle, availability of many reagents | Usually need adjuvants, low amount of sera can be obtained |
Rats | Small size, short breeding cycle, larger amount of sera can be obtained, no need for use of adjuvant | Restricted availability of reagents, larger amount of protein/food required | |
Dogs | Large organ size and increased amount of sera can be obtained, spontaneously develop allergies | Restricted availability of reagents, Very large amount of protein/food required, large animals, prolonged duration of animal studies, expensive and ethical consideration | |
Route of sensitization | Oral | Relevant route of sensitization | Often needs the use of adjuvant, require large amount of protein |
i.p. | No adjuvant, robust sensitization route, no need for large amount of proteins/food | Non-physiological relevant route | |
Cutaneous | Relevant route of sensitization | Usually requires immunological danger signals | |
Dose–response relationship |  | Helps in creating threshold levels, helps in hazard identification | Several groups of animals required for each protein |
Protein preparation | Whole foods | Ability to study the sensitizing capacity of proteins in their natural matrix, Ability to study the allergenicity of true novel foods, Easy to prepare | Difficult to identify the sensitising proteins |
Purified proteins | Ability to study the inherent sensitizing capacity of the individual protein | Difficult to prepare, need large amounts of high quality purified protein, protein structure may change | |
Food Extracts | Easy to prepare | Difficult to identify the sensitizing protein, some proteins may be lost or the relative amounts may change, protein structure may change | |
Protein processing | Raw protein/food | Ability to study the inherent allergenicity | May not reflect the end use of the protein |
Processed protein/food | Ability to study the sensitizing capacity of the consumed version which cannot be predicted otherwise | May impact the allergenic properties | |
Adjuvant | Â | Provides a danger signal | Artificially modifies the immune response |