Celery allergy and stomach digestion in aged mice and patients
What it found
In aged mice, celery allergy only appeared when stomach digestion was blocked by acid-suppressing drugs.
In aged celery-allergic patients, properly digested celery was less able to trigger IgE reactions.
What they found
Studies in people
Digested celery in patients
In aged celery-allergic patients, properly digested celery had a lower ability to bind and crosslink IgE, based on skin tests and IgE immunoblot.
Animal and lab studies
Zinc and iron in aged mice
Aged mice had lower serum zinc and iron levels than adult mice, which the authors say may alter their immune response.
Celery feeding without acid block
Feeding digestion-sensitive celery proteins under normal stomach conditions caused IgG1 and IgG2a in aged mice and mainly IgG1 in adult mice.
Acid suppression triggers allergy
When stomach acid was suppressed, digestion was incomplete and both age groups of mice made celery-specific IgE, had positive skin tests and raised IL-5 levels.
Studies in people and animals
Stomach digestion reduces reactivity
Gastric proteolysis lowered IgE reactivity against celery proteins in lab tests and in aged allergic patients.
What the authors conclude
“Thus, in the geriatric murine model, celery allergy was induced only if gastric digestion was hindered.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that in the geriatric mouse model, celery allergy was induced only when gastric digestion was hindered.
- They state that gastric proteolysis decreased IgE-reactivity against celery proteins in aged allergic patients, both in vitro and in vivo.
How it was done
Recent studies suggested allergies in elderly people are underestimated. The authors wanted to see whether food allergy can be caused in ageing mice and how stomach digestion affects celery's allergy-triggering proteins in older patients.
They fed celery proteins to aged and adult BALB/c mice, some with acid-suppression to block stomach digestion, and measured immune markers and skin tests. They also tested aged celery-allergic patients (average age 72) with skin tests and IgE immunoblot using properly digested celery.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The mouse part cannot show what happens in people.
- The patient part looked at IgE binding and skin tests, not at whether eating celery caused actual allergy symptoms.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Austrian Science Fund FWF (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- Medical University of Vienna, Austria
The paper
- Title
- Characterization of intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for celery allergy in immunosenescence
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Untersmayr E, Diesner SC, Brämswig KH, et al (2008). Characterization of intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for celery allergy in immunosenescence. Mechanisms of ageing and development. doi:10.1016/j.mad.2007.10.015PubMed 18083215DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error