The Maillard Reaction Reduced the Sensitization of Tropomyosin and Arginine Kinase from Scylla paramamosain, Simultaneously

The Maillard reaction was established to reduce the sensitization of tropomyosin (TM) and arginine kinase (AK) from Scylla paramamosain, and the mechanism of the attenuated sensitization was investigated. In the present study, the Maillard reaction conditions were optimized for heating at 100 °C for 60 min (pH 8.5) with arabinose. A low level of allergenicity in mice was shown by the levels of allergen-specific antibodies, and more Th1 and less Th2 cells cytokines produced and associated transcription factors with the Maillard reacted allergen (mAllergen). The tolerance potency in mice was demonstrated by the increased ratio of Th1/Th2 cytokines. Moreover, mass spectrometry analysis showed that some key amino acids of IgE-binding epitopes (K₁₁₂, R₁₂₅, R₁₃₃ of TM; K₃₃, K₁₁₈, R₂₀₂ of AK) were modified by the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction with arabinose reduced the sensitization of TM and AK, which may be due to the masked epitopes.