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Review
. 2016 Jan;65(1):16-20.
doi: 10.1016/j.alit.2015.10.001. Epub 2015 Nov 21.

Delayed anaphylaxis to alpha-gal, an oligosaccharide in mammalian meat

Scott P Commins  1 , Maya R Jerath  2 , Kelly Cox  3 , Loren D Erickson  4 , Thomas Platts-Mills  5
Affiliations
Review

Delayed anaphylaxis to alpha-gal, an oligosaccharide in mammalian meat

Scott P Commins et al. Allergol Int. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

IgE-mediated hypersensitivity refers to immune reactions that can be rapidly progressing and, in the case of anaphylaxis, are occasionally fatal. To that end, identification of the associated allergen is important for facilitating both education and allergen avoidance that are essential to long-term risk reduction. As the number of known exposures associated with anaphylaxis is limited, discovery of novel causative agents is crucial to evaluation and management of patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis. Within the last 10 years several apparently separate observations were recognized to be related, all of which resulted from the development of antibodies to a carbohydrate moiety on proteins. Interestingly, the exposure differed from airborne allergens but was nevertheless capable of producing anaphylactic and hypersensitivity reactions. Our recent work has identified these responses as being due to a novel IgE antibody directed against a mammalian oligosaccharide epitope, galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose ("alpha-gal"). This review will present the historical summary of the identification of cetuximab hypersensitivity due to alpha-gal IgE and discuss the non-primate mammalian meat food allergy as well as current goals and directions of our research programs.

Keywords: Alpha-gal; Delayed anaphylaxis; Glycan; IgE; Red meat allergy.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Outline map of the world showing relative location of geographical distribution of reported cases of patients with delayed allergic reactions to non-primate mammalian meat due to IgE to alpha-gal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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