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This research assesses links between levels of peanut-specific IgG, using archive samples from patients with varying reactions to peanut.
<p>At present the evidence for the direct involvement of IgG antibodies in food allergy is controversial and remains unresolved.
<p>This study is measuring peanut specific IgG from patients with sensitivity to peanut in order to establish if IgE and IgG antibodies develop in parallel and determine the extent to which the antibody classes share common epitopes for a major peanut allergen.
The first section of work involves comparing the levels of peanut specific IgG in anonymised archive samples from patients who have previously experienced a range of reactions to peanut.
<p>Any direct or indirect role of IgG, or a particular IgG subclass, in allergy will be assessed by linking results to both the clinical and laboratory information available in the FSA-funded Research Allergy Database.
<p>The second section of work will retrospectively investigate the development of peanut specific antibodies in children.
<p>The aim is to determine if IgG antibodies change in parallel with other classes of peanut specific antibodies. This will include studying whether IgE and IgG antibodies can recognise the same linear peanut protein sequences.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.