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Food allergy is an adverse immune response to specific foods that can be either IgE-mediated or non-IgE mediated. The causes of IgE-mediated food allergy are multifactorial and involve genetic, dietary, and environmental factors. The prevalence of food allergy has increased over the last few decades, especially in urbanized, industrialized, and Westernized countries, and the epithelial barrier hypothesis has been recently suggested as a possible explanation for this increase. Food allergens of plant and animal origin are classified into a few families and superfamilies that are widely distributed and conserved. While it is known that food allergens share common properties, such as stability to enzymes and solubility, they also exhibit differential properties, and exceptions to the common characteristics exist. In recent years, novel characteristics of food allergens have been proposed based on their immunological properties and their ability to act as adjuvants or enhancers of the immune system.This chapter provides an overview of the current knowledge of food allergy, covering their prevalence, classification of food allergens from plant and animal origins, and recent advancements in the characterization of the properties of these allergens., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

To explore the influence of changes in human lifestyle and the living environment caused by nonpharmaceutical interventions in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on allergic diseases, the present study enrolled children who came to the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University for allergen detection between January 2019 and December 2020. By comparing the positive rates and levels of various allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the influence of changes in human lifestyle and the living environment caused by prevention and control measures in COVID-19 on allergic diseases was evaluated. In 2019, 41 648 allergic children went to the hospital, but in 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the number decreased to 24 714. In 2020, the number of allergy visits was the lowest in February and gradually increased. There were 45 879 children with total IgE > 17.5 IU/ml in 2 years, accounting for 69.13% of the total samples, of which the proportion was 68.52% (28 536/41 648) in 2019 and 70.17% (17 343/24 714) in 2020. A total of 29 906 children were positive for one or more allergens in 2 years. It accounts for 45.06% of the total number of samples, of which the proportion is 41.53% (17 296/41 648) in 2019 and 51.02% (12 610/24 714) in 2020. Except for cashew nuts, the positive number of other allergens in 2020 was less than in 2019, especially after June and July 2020. Except for Artemisia argyi, the positive rates of other allergens in 2020 were significantly higher than those in 2019 (p < 0.05). Moreover, the changing trend of the positive allergen rate in each month in 2020 was different from that in 2019. In 2020, except for Dermatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, and Crab, specific IgE levels of other allergens were not greater than those in 2019 (p < 0.05). Thus it can be seen, during the COVID-19 pandemic, nonpharmaceutical interventions played a protective role in reducing children's exposure to allergens and alleviating allergic reactions., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The aim of this study was conducted to validate the physicochemical properties of a total of 362 chemicals [305 skin sensitizers (212 in the previous study + 93 additional new chemicals), 57 non-skin sensitizers (38 in the previous study + 19 additional new chemicals)] for skin sensitization risk assessment using quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)/quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) approaches. The average melting point (MP), surface tension (ST), and density (DS) of the 305 skin sensitizers and 57 non-sensitizers were used to determine the cutoff values distinguishing positive and negative sensitization, and correlation coefficients were employed to derive effective 3-fold concentration (EC3 (%)) values. QSAR models were also utilized to assess skin sensitization. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 80, 15, and 70%, respectively, for the Toxtree QSAR model; 88, 46, and 81%, respectively, for Vega; and 56, 61, and 56%, respectively, for Danish EPA QSAR. Surprisingly, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 60, 80, and 64%, respectively, when MP, ST, and DS (MP+ST+DS) were used in this study. Further, MP+ST+DS exhibited a sensitivity of 77%, specificity 57%, and accuracy 73% when the derived EC3 values were classified into local lymph node assay (LLNA) skin sensitizer and non-sensitizer categories. Thus, MP, ST, and DS may prove useful in predicting EC3 values as not only an alternative approach to animal testing but also for skin sensitization risk assessment.