Evaluation of Unintended Effects in the Composition of Tomatoes Expressing a Human Immunoglobulin A against Rotavirus

The
production of neutralizing immunoglobulin A (IgA) in edible
fruits as a means of oral passive immunization is a promising strategy
for the inexpensive treatment of mucosal diseases. This approach is
based on the assumption that the edible status remains unaltered in
the immunoglobulin-expressing fruit, and therefore extensive purification
is not required for mucosal delivery. However, unintended effects
associated with IgA expression such as toxic secondary metabolites
and protein allergens cannot be dismissed a priori and need to be
investigated. This paper describes a collection of independent transgenic
tomato lines expressing a neutralizing human IgA against rotavirus,
a mucosal pathogen producing severe diarrhea episodes. This collection
was used to evaluate possible unintended effects associated with recombinant
IgA expression. A comparative analysis of protein and secondary metabolite
profiles using wild type lines and other commercial varieties failed
to find unsafe features significantly associated with IgA expression.
Preliminary, the data indicate that formulations derived from IgA
tomatoes are as safe for consumption as equivalent formulations derived
from wild type tomatoes.