ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Allergy
Sec. Mechanisms in Allergy
This article is part of the Research TopicAllergies in Focus, Tales from the Less Explored World: Prevalence, Allergens, and Treatment Strategies in Latin America and Africa.View all 4 articles
A new experimental model of peanut allergy in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice
Provisionally accepted
Ana Maria Caetano Faria*
Marcos Felipe Andrade-Oliveira
Rafael Saavedra Langer
Sara Cândida BarbosaMariana Almeida OliveiraCecília Horta Ramalho-Pinto
Giovanna Caliman CamattaJamil Silvano de Oliveira
Carlos Chavez Olortegui
Tatiani Uceli MaioliDenise Carmona Cara- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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Food allergy protocols are highly variable. While it allows the exploration of multiple scientific questions, it limits the possibility to make general assumptions and point out specific features of allergy to different food allergens. Considering this, our research group has developed a standardized food allergy protocol that has allowed us to study egg, milk and shrimp allergy. In this study, we used the same protocol to develop a model of peanut allergy. BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were sensitized with a subcutaneous injection of 40µg of peanut protein extract (PPE) adsorbed in 3mg of aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) on days 0 and 14. From day 21 to 35, as an oral challenge, control and sensitized mice received a whole peanut extract (WPE) as the only source of drinking solution, while naïve groups received water. After oral challenge, BALB/c and C57BL/6 sensitized mice had higher levels of total and specific IgE in the serum, as well as specific IgG1, than control groups. BALB/c, but not C57BL/6, mice presented higher levels of anti-PPE secretory IgA (SIgA), and lower reactivity to fecal bacteria than control group. Directly after sensitization, sensitized mice from both strains presented a positive cutaneous anaphylactic reaction, and transfer of their post-oral challenge serum generated cutaneous anaphylaxis in receiving mice. Lastly, the jejunum of BALB/c and C57BL/6 sensitized mice presented higher eosinophil, intraepithelial lymphocyte, and goblet cell count, as well as smaller villi length, than control groups. Thus, our standardized food allergy protocol enabled the development of a peanut allergy model, which not only allows the study of peanut allergy itself, but also its comparison to other allergies triggered by food proteins.
Keywords: allergy, Anaphylaxis, Gut Inflammation, IgE, peanut, Secretory IgA
Received: 01 Oct 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Faria, Andrade-Oliveira, Langer, Barbosa, Oliveira, Ramalho-Pinto, Camatta, de Oliveira, Olortegui, Maioli and Cara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ana Maria Caetano Faria
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