Allergy to meat, novel findings

An allergy to meat may be responsible for up to half of recurrent anaphylaxis cases without known cause, researchers said.

In three cohorts of idiopathic anaphylaxis patients, 20% to 50% tested positive for allergy to the sugar galactose-a-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) found in beef, lamb, pork, and other mammalian meats, according to Scott Commins, MD, PhD, of the University of Virginia, and colleagues.

About 10% of all anaphylaxis patients at one of the participating clinics reacted to alpha-gal. The allergy may often go undetected and unsuspected because of its typically adult onset and because there's three to six hour delay in symptoms after eating meat. That's likely the time needed for digestion and absorption. Once affected patients are diagnosed, management is simple -- avoidance.

Nearly all common allergies are reactions to proteins, so severe allergy to a sugar is a novel finding.

Source: Abstract, ie not peer reviewed article, from American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Commins SP, et al "Testing for IgE antibody to the carbohydrate galactose-a-1,3- galactose (alpha-gal) in Patients with recurrent, idiopathic anaphylaxis: How many cases are we missing?" AAAAI 2010; Abstract 471.