Peanut Allergens Alter Intestinal Barrier Permeability and Tight Junction Localisation in Caco-2 Cell Cultures¹

Abstract

Disruption of Caco-2 barrier integrity through tight junction disruption may enable movement of peanut proteins across the intestinal epithelium. This accounts for peanut's increased allergenicity, compared to other food allergens, and provides an explanation for the potency of peanut allergens in immune response elicitation.