Soybean allergen glycinin induced the destruction of the mechanical barrier function in IPEC-J2

Humans and animals suffer a health threat to soybean allergy. The impaired mechanism of the intestinal barrier by food/feed allergen glycinin has not been clear. The effects of epithelial metabolic activity, permeability, integrity, and the tight junction (TJ) expression induced by glycinin were conducted using porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) model in this study. The results showed the decreased metabolic activity (R ² = 0.964, p < 0.001) and the increased alkaline phosphatase activity (R ² = 0.528, p = 0.002) linearly correlated with glycinin levels (0–4 mg/mL). The trans-epithelial electrical resistance values declined stimulated by 4 mg/mL glycinin treatment in a time-dependent manner (0, 6, 12, or 24 h, p = 0.018), and also descended after 12 or 24 h glycinin treatment in dose-dependence (0, 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 mg/mL, p < 0.001). The glycinin-induced TJ expression of claudin-3, occludin, and ZO-1 were reduced (p < 0.05).