Red meat allergy in patients with IgE antibodies specific for galactose-alpha-1.3-galactose; A case series from Turkey

Study aim Galactose-α-1,3-galactose (alpha-Gal) syndrome is a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction that occurs after consumption of mammalian meat and mammalian products. Our aim was to analyze patients in our population with alpha-Gal syndrome and to present their results. Materials and methods Our study included 18 patients exhibiting allergic symptoms after consumption of mammalian meat and mammalian products between 2018 and 2019. Retrospective examination of these patients’ files enabled us to examine the duration of onset of their allergic symptoms, the extent of their allergies, and their familial history, blood type, and comorbidities, as well as the existence of atopy, their place of residence and their skin test results. Results While 14 out of 18 patients included in the study have ongoing meat allergy, 4 of them recovered from their allergy. All patients were living in the countryside and had a history of contact with ticks during the hazelnut harvest. The median age was 37.44 ± 11.55 years. Time to onset of symptoms after consumption of red meat was 2.68 ± 2.58 hours. Skin prick tests with cetuximab were positive for 8 of 9 patients agreeing to advanced research, while the patient with a negative test result was in the group that recovered from meat allergy. We nevertheless detected that serum galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose-specific IgE values were positive for all 9 patients. Conclusion The most striking point in our study was that most of our patients were female and that all patients reported a history of contact with ticks at hazelnut harvest.