Alpha-gal syndrome is an allergy to red meat (and derivatives). It can be confused with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and is instead an immune reaction induced by a tick bite. A blood test can detect it.
Alpha-gal syndrome or allergy to red meat and many derivative products
Known as ‘red meat allergy’, the AGS (alpha-Gal syndrome) is the first food allergy associated with a carbohydrate, rather than a protein.
It’s an immune reaction (allergy or intolerance) to alpha-gal (galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose), a carbohydrate present in the meat of mammals such as beef, pork, deer and other species, including their derivatives. Sausages, dairy products, stock cubes, jellies like those used in gummy candies and in marshmallows. It is also present in some drugs and healthcare products, such as the anticancer drug cetuximab, bovine or porcine heart valves, antidotes to poisons, heparin and stearic acid and/or magnesium stearate (present, for example, in various tablets, including paracetamol, oxycodone, Lisinopril, Oxycontin). (1,2)
Sensitization in humans is triggered by a tick bite that inoculates alpha-gal. This can result in an immune response (high levels of IgE antibodies) in the event of consumption of the allergen, with potentialli severe reactions.
Late onset symptoms
This condition can persist for five years or wane, except for new tick bites.
Symptoms vary, from mild to severe. And their link to the consumption of red meat is not immediate, since they appear after 3-6 hours.
‘Symptoms can be relatively mild, such as itching and hives, but you can also have angioedema, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, a significant drop in blood pressure, dizziness and, in the most serious cases, anaphylaxis; Often, the reaction is accompanied by difficulty breathing, which makes AGS particularly dangerous for asthmatics.
However, it should also be emphasized that many people sensitized to alpha-gal are asymptomatic or do not show symptoms with every exposure to red meat of non-primate mammals’. (3)
The diagnosis
First identified in the early 2000s in the United States, AGS is now confirmed in 17 countries. In Europe, the vector is the wood tick ( Ixodes ricinus), which is also very widespread in Italy in the Triveneto area.
According to the Spanish research institute IREC (Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos), the known cases are much lower than the real ones due to lack of or delayed diagnosis. (4)
How to identify it
Still little known among doctors, alpha-gal syndrome can be diagnosed by a blood test with IgE tests specific for the allergenic molecular components of alpha-gal.
The test can also be requested by the general practitioner (family doctor) in case of symptoms included in those typical of ‘red meat allergy’.
Marta Strinati
Cover image from https://patient.gastro.org/alpha-gal-syndrome-with-gi-symptoms/
Footnotes
(1) Dario Dongo. Goleador, is gummy candy suitable for vegetarians and vegans? The lawyer Dario Dongo answers. FARE (Food and Agriculture Requirements). 5.6.17
(2) Alpha-gal syndrome. Allergy Insider. https://www.thermofisher.com/allergy/it/it/allergen-fact-sheets/alpha-gal-syndrome.html
(3) Alpha-gal syndrome or allergy to red meat. On Medicine. Year XVII, Number 3 – September 2023 https://www.onmedicine.it/articolo.php?id=35&nr=32023&t=foc
(4) IREC, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos.“Las garrapatas y la allergy to red meat”. 27.3.23 https://www.irec.es/divulgacion-cientifica/nota-divulgativa-garrapatas-y-alergia-carne-roja/
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
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