The wide variety of genetic polymorphisms
(Grosclaude, 1995) of the different caseins and whey
proteins adds to the complexity of the cow milk allergy
situation and difficulty to determine which protein is
mainly responsible for an allergic reaction. However,
it has now been shown that this genetic protein diversity may actually help identify which protein is the allergen, if genetic polymorphisms of milk proteins are
specifically used for clinical tests (Bevilacqua et al.,
2000). Guinea pigs had allergic reactions to goat milk
with-s-1-casein, similar to cow milk, which only
has this protein polymorph, and which may explain
the commonly found cross-immune reaction between
cow milk and some goat milk. However, guinea pigs
fed goat milk without this polymorph but instead with
-s-2-casein showed only in 40% an allergic reaction,
which lead to the conclusion that goat milk lacking
-s-1-casein is less allergenic than other goat milk