PEANUT allergy is the major leading cause of fatal or life-threatening anaphylactic reactions to foods. At present, there is no remedy for this condition. The applied pharmaceutical cares are merely palliative, while their deleterious side effects have already been established. Hence, many sufferers search for complementary and alternative medicines. A versatile-, "flavonol" subgroup-member of the flavonoid family, quercetin, is of paramount interest to investigators. In this study the effects of quercetin on PEANUT-induced anaphylactic reactions were investigated in a rat model of PEANUT allergy. Wistar rats were sensitized with crude PEANUT extract in the presence of Cholera toxin and Aluminium hydroxide. Sensitized rats were then allotted into three groups; Positive control, Quercetin-treatment and Sham, (n=7, each). Naive rats (n=7) served as negative controls.One week post-sensitization period, the rats in treatment group were treated with quercetin at a dose of 50 mg/kg(Body Weight)/mL Di-methyl-sulfoxide 5%/rat, over a period of four weeks. Subsequently, rats were challenged, and anaphylactic reaction parameters including variations in plasma histamine levels, vascular permeability, systemic anaphylaxis scores, and total serum Immunoglobulin E levels were measured.After daily-gavaging for four weeks, quercetin completely abrogated PEANUT-induced anaphylactic reactions following challenges, so that the mean of plasma histamine levels in the quercetin-treated rats, were lower significantly (p=0.004) as compared with positive control group. Our findings suggest that the flavonoid quercetin is potent enough to suppress the on-going Immunoglobulin E responses against PEANUT proteins, and can be propounded as an alternative medicine to protect against Immunoglobulin E-mediated food allergies.

Background: With respect to the natural, industrial, and environmental origin of lead and cadmium, and also with respect to the known side effects of these two elements, during the present study we have attempted to determine the level of lead and cadmium in PEANUT. Materials and methods: 27 samples of PEANUT were randomly selected from different shops in Ahwaz. Level of lead and cadmium was determined by atomic absorption technique. Results: The mean level of cadmium was 83J.Lg/kgra, nged 15-160, where 92.6% had levels of >40J.Lg/kg.The mean level of lead was 384J.Lg/kg,ranged 12-1043, where 81.5% had levels of >200J.Lg/kg. Conclusion: The level of lead and cadmium was quite high in our studied samples. Determining the~,tiologic factors in this regard will be helpful.

Genotype × environment (G×E) interaction complicates the identification of superior genotypes. An understanding its causes is needed for a more effective breeding strategy. The objective of this study was to determine the plant traits that cause genotype × location (G×L) interaction for pod yield in PEANUT using a modeling approach. The CSM-CROPGRO-PEANUT model was used to simulate pod yield for 17 PEANUT genotypes for 14 locations representative of all PEANUT production areas in Thailand using 30 years of historical weather data. Sensitivity analysis was used to determine the effects of individual and combinations of plant traits on pod yield and yield response to environments by varying the value of one or more cultivar coefficients and then evaluating their effects. The results showed that the cultivar coefficients that showed major effects were the duration from first seed to physiological maturity (SDPM), maximum leaf photosynthesis rate (LFMAX), the maximum fraction of daily growth that is partitioned to seed and shell (XFRT), single seed filling duration (SFDUR) and the duration of pod addition (PODUR). Those having minor effects were the duration from emergence to first flower (EMFL), maximum leaf size (SIZLF) and maximum seed weight (WTPSD). The cultivar coefficients that caused the differences in both mean yield and yield response to locations between PEANUT genotypes in different pairs included LFMAX, XFRT, SDPM, SFDUR and PODUR, but the causal characters differed among pairs of genotypes. It was concluded that changing the degree of genotypic response to environments is possible through selection for a combination of some of these traits, and that model simulation could be used to identify those traits.

The adaptive responses of crop genotypes and patterns of genotype x location (G x L) interaction are important to crop improvement as they are the basis for selection for specific adaptation and for elucidation of the causes of G x L interaction. Their legitimate assessment, however, requires yield data for the test genotypes for a large number of sites and over multiple years. Such data are seldom available from actual trials but could be provided by a crop simulation model. The objectives of this study were to assess the adaptive responses of a set of diverse PEANUT genotypes and to determine the various patterns of G x L interaction between pairs of these genotypes using a modeling approach. Pod yield of 17 PEANUT lines was simulated for 112 locations covering all PEANUT production areas in Thailand over three seasons and 30 years with the Cropping System Model (CSM) CROPGRO-PEANUT. The data were analyzed for the adaptive response to locations of each PEANUT genotype with linear regression. Patterns of G x L interaction for the individual pairs of genotypes were determined. The results showed that the test genotypes could be classified into five groups based on mean yield and adaptive response, i.e., average yield with a low (<1.00) regression coefficient (Entries 5, 6, 8), above average yield with an average (=1.00) regression coefficient (Entries 3, 7, 10, 11, 12), above average yield with a high (>1.00) regression coefficient (Entries 13, 15, 17), below average yield with a low regression coefficient (Entry 1), and below average yield with an average regression coefficient (Entries 2, 4, 9, 14, 16). These characteristics are the basis for selection for either broad or specific adaptation. All three patterns of G x L interaction, i.e., no interaction, non-crossover interaction and crossover interaction were also identified. Further analysis of these interaction patterns is recommended to elucidate the crop characters and environmental factors that are the causes of G x L interaction. The results indicate the potential of using crop simulation models as a tool to analyze adaptation of crop genotypes and to determine the pattern of G x L interaction for the individual genotype pairs.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin condition that causes itching and eczematous skin lesions over a long period. PEANUT allergy is an immunological reaction mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) that often manifests in childhood and can cause anything from moderate skin reactions to anaphylaxis. This study evaluated the accuracy of a skin prick test (SPT) using local PEANUT allergen extract compared with standard allergen extract in diagnosing PEANUT allergy or sensitization involving 30 adult atopic dermatitis patients. The patients underwent history taking and SPT tests with local and standard allergen extracts at separate times at 1-week intervals. The local allergen extract was produced by Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital Surabaya, Indonesia. There were three patients with positive results from the standard PEANUT SPT. Meanwhile, no positive results were detected with the local PEANUT SPT. The specificity of local PEANUT SPT was 93.3%, while the negative predictive value was 100%. The compatibility of local PEANUT SPT to the patient’s history was 93.33%, which consisted of patients with no previous history of PEANUT allergy who got negative results. The local PEANUT allergen extract for SPT had reasonable specificity and can be considered an alternative diagnostic tool to exclude PEANUT allergy in AD.