Reaction of Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Made against Infectious Agents with Various Food Antigens

Background: During the past 10 years in our clinical immunology laboratory, we have observed that some patients with high titers of antibodies against the Herpes family of viruses also exhibit elevation in antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi antigens. Furthermore, when sera from patients with high IgG antibody levels against B. burgdorferi and Epstein-Barr virus were tested for food-specific antibodies, the degree of immune reactivity to food antigens was much higher in patients who were seropositive for B. burgdorferi and EBV antigens than in those who were seronegative. We purchased monoclonal and affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies against B. burgdorferi, Herpes family viruses and other infectious agents, and reacted them with 180 different food antigens so we could examine the degree of cross-reactivity between infectious agents and various food antigens.