Recognition of native and/or thermally induced denatured forms of the major food allergen, ovomucoid, by human IgE and mouse monoclonal IgG antibodies.

Human sera obtained from children with egg allergy reacted well with both native and heated ovomucoid (OM). Ovalbumin is present in egg white in a 5 times greater quantity than OM; however, it easily aggregates and becomes difficult to extract by heating. For accurate food allergen labeling of processed food, therefore, OM should be evaluated with the determination of egg white protein in consideration of heat denaturation. Three kinds of monoclonal antibodies and sandwich ELISA tests were established which are able to recognize the native and/or heat-denatured forms of OM. The usefulness of these characteristic mAbs and ELISA tests are discussed in relation to allergen labeling, monitoring food processing, and movement or change of dietary protein in vivo.