Gastrointestinal digestion and absorption of soybean β-conglycinin in an early weaned piglet model: An initial step to the induction of soybean allergy

• Published in: Food chemistry 2023-11, Vol.427, p.136640-136640, Article 136640
• Main Authors: Zheng, Shugui, Yin, Shuangyang, Qin, Guixin, Yao, Jiaqi, Liu, Simiao, Han, Junfeng, Zhou, Yang, Duan, Shuang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: absorption; Allergens; Anaphylaxis; Animals; antigen-antibody complex; Antigens, Plant; Digestion; digestive tract; food chemistry; Globulins - metabolism; Glycine max - metabolism; intestinal mucosa; Mechanism of absorption and transport; Pathway of absorption and transport; Piglets; Seed Storage Proteins; Soybean Proteins - metabolism; soybeans; Swine; β-Conglycinin
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136640

•β-Conglycinin was resistant to gastrointestinal digestion in early weaned piglets.•The resultant digestion-resistant fragments were absorbed into the intestinal mucosa.•These fragments were observed to be absorbed through transcellular pathway.•The absorption occurred in the form of IgE-allergen complex with CD23 as the receptor. To date, it still remains unknown how β-conglycinin, a major soybean allergen, crosses intestinal epithelial barrier to reach immune cells. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the pathway and molecular mechanism of β-conglycinin absorption and transport across intestinal mucosal epithelium using a β-conglycinin allergic piglet model. Ten-day old piglets were orally sensitized with diets containing 2% and 4% β-conglycinin. The digestion, absorption and transport of β-conglycinin in gastrointestinal tract was investigated. The results showed that β-conglycinin had a certain resistance to gastrointestinal digestion, and the digestion-resistant subunits and fragments were absorbed into the intestinal mucosa and then induced an anaphylaxis in early weaned piglets. The absorption occurred in the form of IgE-allergen immune complex through transcellular pathway with CD23 as the receptor. These results provided important clues for using the pathway and molecule as inhibitor target to prevent and alleviate soybean β-conglycinin allergy in infants.