A case of alpha-gal syndrome: Recall urticaria and 10 years of measurements of IgE to galactose-α-1,3-galactose

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In 2008, alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) was described as an IgE-mediated food allergy toward the oligosaccharide galactose-α-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) present in nonprimate mammals and New World monkeys.1 AGS is characterized by urticaria, angioedema, pruritus, gastrointestinal symptoms, and/or anaphylaxis developing 2 to 6 hours after consumption of mammalian meat or other alpha-gal–containing products. The diagnosis of AGS is usually made on the basis of these delayed symptoms and elevated level of serum-specific IgE to alpha-gal. The recognition of AGS started with a distinct geographic pattern of patients experiencing anaphylaxis after their first infusion with cetuximab, a novel mAb for treating cancer.1 It was shown that the anaphylactic episodes occurred in patients with preexisting antibodies to alpha-gal in geographic areas with a high prevalence of ticks.1 A strong link between tick bites and subsequent AGS has been established, and it has been indicated that levels of IgE to alpha-gal seem to decrease if the patient avoids new tick bites and, accordingly, that a new tick bite can yield a marked increase in the alpha-gal IgE level.2,3 Further, 2 recent case reports of AGS described urticaria at the site of a previous tick bite, which was labeled as recall urticaria.4,5 In particular, recall urticaria has been described in case reports in relation to allergen-specific immunotherapy with a local reaction at the site of previous allergen injections after, for example, administration of a new allergen6 or environmental exposure to the allergen,7 drugs,8 or food.9 In this case, we have more than 10 years of repeated measurements of levels of IgE to alpha-gal, showing the first longitudinal data on how IgE level changes over the course of a decade. Additionally, this case highlights the potential importance of symptoms related to the tick bite.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer100280
TidsskriftJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Global
Vol/bind3
Udgave nummer3
Antal sider3
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2024

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
Supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (grant 2034-00031B [to K.B.L-M.]), the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association Research Foundation (to M.vH.), the Swedish Cancer and Allergy Foundation (to M.vH.), the King Gustaf V 80th Birthday Foundation (to M.vH.), the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation (to M.vH.), and the Hesselman Foundation (to M.vH.).Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: K. B. Leth-M\u00F8ller has received lecture fees from Thermo Fisher Scientific. M. van Hage has received lecture fees from Thermo Fisher Scientific and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.

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© 2024 The Authors

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