Table 1.
Molecular allergens identified in cow’s milk. Allergens available for diagnostics are marked in bold.
| Cow’s Milk Protein | Allergen | Allergenicity | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casein Family (coagulum: has approximately 80% of the CM proteins) | |||
| Casein | Bos d 8 | Major | Resistant to high temperatures High sequence homology (>85%) with proteins from goat and sheep Very low cross- reactivity (<5%) with milks from donkey, mare, buffalo, or camel |
| Alpha s1-casein | Bos d 9 | Major | |
| Alpha s2-casein | Bos d 10 | Major | |
| Beta-casein | Bos d 11 | Major | |
| Kappa-casein | Bos d12 | Major | |
| Whey (sensible to heating, lose IgE binding after 15–20 min of boiling at >90 °C) [16] | |||
| Alpha-lactalbumin | Bos d 4 | Major | ~65% of whey, present in the milk of almost all mammals |
| Beta-lactoglobulin | Bos d 5 | Major | ~25% of whey, not present in the human breast milk |
| Bovine serum albumin | Bos d 6 | Minor | ~8% of whey, is one of the major beef allergens, responsible for cross reactivity between CM and raw beef |
| Immunoglobulins | Bos d 7 | Minor | Especially G class, may play a role in cross-reactivity with beef [8] |
| Lactoferrin | Bos d lactoferrin * | Minor | Is a multifunctional protein of the transferrin family [8] |
* Available only for semiquantitative methods.