A man who has become 'meat allergic' after being bitten by a tick



Many people may associate buckwheat, flour, and crustaceans with foods that cause allergies, but some people develop allergic symptoms when they eat 'mammalian lean meat.' A case report published in December 2021 reports a case in which a male farm worker became allergic to meat due to being 'bitten by a tick.'

Mammalian meat allergy emerges after tick bite: the alpha-gal syndrome | BMJ Case Reports

https://casereports.bmj.com/content/14/11/e245488

It's Possible to Accidentally Develop an Allergy to Red Meat. Here's The Science
https://www.sciencealert.com/some-people-become-allergic-to-meats-after-tick-bites-here-s-what-to-look-out-for

One day, a 56-year-old man living in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, USA, noticed hives on his lower back and arms hours after eating a hamburger. It seems that men continued to have hives after eating meat and, in rare cases, shortness of breath, but he did not understand why such symptoms occur.

It was reported that the man was infected with the AIDS virus at the age of 21 and was treated, and also had seasonal allergies, making it more difficult to identify the cause. The man reported his symptoms to his doctor and changed his detergent and avoided wearing new clothes, but he was not effective in preventing hives and shortness of breath. Men are unaware that the meat they ate a few hours ago was the cause, as common food allergies develop symptoms within minutes of eating.

A man who had been suffering from symptoms for seven years, but when he heard from a friend that he was allergic to meat by being bitten by ticks, he said, 'I was also allergic to meat by being bitten by ticks on the farm. Isn't it? ' Then, when I was examined by a doctor who diagnosed meat allergies, it turned out that I really had meat allergies. After that, when the lean meat was removed from the diet, it was reported that he no longer suffered from allergic reactions.



Although meat allergies have been around for quite some time, research has only progressed in the last 20 years. In 2002, British allergy researcher

Thomas Platz-Mills focused on cases in which some cancer patients had an allergic reaction to an anticancer drug called cetuximab. In 2008, he discovered that the root cause of allergic reactions derived from cetuximab was a carbohydrate called 'galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-gal)'.

α-gal is present in the cell membranes of many mammals except primates, and cetuximab contains α-gal derived from mice. Not only administration of cetuximab, but also eating lean meat of mammals causes α-gal allergy (meat allergy) . However, the question 'Why did some people become allergic to α-gal?' Was still unclear.

Platts-Mills has a high history of tick- borne Rocky Mountain spotted fever among people with α-gal allergies, and is bitten by ticks from hunters who actually ate beef and had an allergic reaction. After discovering the scars, I thought, 'Isn't the α-gal allergy caused by being bitten by ticks?' In fact, Mr. Platts-Mills said that he started to have an allergic reaction to lamb from the latter half of the year when he walked in the neighborhood in the hope of being bitten by mites.


by Judy Gallagher

Today, it is known that α-gal attached to proteins contained in the saliva of mites causes meat allergies. Since α-gal is not decomposed by heating, eating a dish using lean meat of mammals may cause an allergic reaction. Case reports also suggest that clinicians should raise awareness of α-gal allergies, as animal-derived sutures ( catgut ), bovine-derived vaccines, and pig-derived heart valves can cause allergic reactions. Insist.

in Science,   Creature,   Junk Food, Posted by log1h_ik