Model Developed to Delve into Tick-Bite Induced Meat Allergies

Tick-bite induced allergies are on the rise. Specifically, an IgE-mediated allergy to red meat is getting a lot of attention lately as sufferers can develop symptoms ranging from mild hives to nausea and vomiting to severe anaphylaxis. The mechanisms by which tick exposure leads to sensitization and the production of IgE antibodies are poorly understood, but a paper, published last week in The Journal of Immunology, has taken a good first step in identifying immunological changes in people who abruptly develop an allergic reaction to mammalian meat.

According to the team from the University of Virginia, the findings offer important insights into why otherwise healthy people can enjoy meat all their lives until suddenly a hamburger or hot dog becomes potentially life-threatening.

"We don't know what it is about the tick bite that causes the meat allergy. And, in particular, we haven't really understood the source of immune cells that produce the antibodies that cause the allergic reactions," senior author Loren Erickson explained. "There's no way to prevent or cure this food allergy, so we need to first understand the underlying mechanism that triggers the allergy so we can devise a new therapy."

Erickson's team developed a mouse model of tick-induced IgE responses and used it to characterize the IgE response to lone star tick proteins administered cutaneously. Based on their results, they believe that TLR signaling in B cells has an important role in inducing IgE responses to tick proteins.