Transplanting A Nut Allergy

Gavinsblog writes "New Scientist is reporting that a man who received a liver transplant from a donor who died of anaphylactic shock, went on to develop a life-threatening nut allergy himself. The man had no history of a nut allergy suffered an anaphylactic reaction to a cashew nut 25 days after receiving the liver. Should the liver have read 'Warning: may contain traces of nut'?"

Re:Wow...

[Simon Field]

It would be interesting to see if the reaction goes away as the IgE is flushed out of the donated liver, or if it is a new learned response in the recipient.

It is hard to tell from one or two cases, since adult onset nut allergies are not uncommon. It could be a complete coincidence that the man got an allergy to the same thing that killed the donor. But the large amounts of IgE that would be in the liver of someone who died of anaphylaxis could be causing a temporary allergic response to nuts.

I would have thought that the immuno-suppressants needed to prevent rejection would have lowered the susceptibility to allergens. Perhaps the new drugs are more targetted these days. Or maybe the combination of immune-system altering drugs and the IgE from the liver caused the problem in the first place.

Wha...?

[Anonymous Coward]

I officially nominate this article for the next 'funniest headline' poll.

Re:Wha...?

[Gavinsblog]

Hey! I have friends who have very serious problems with allergies and even they found it funny - so I stand by the heading I wrote and my remarks.

Nut allergies can be sudden and unexpected

[Blkdeath]

A friend of mine was recently in hospital for extreme bloating, cramping, shortness of breath, nausea, and all sorts of other uncomfortable symptoms. The cause? A nut allergy. He's been a nut lover for all his life (atleast 30-40 years' worth of adulthood, anyways), often sitting down to a beer and a can of nuts in the evening and never encountered a problem before. But now it's potentially life-threatening if he consumes even trace amounts of almost any nut.

And no, he hasn't had any major transplants or transfusions lately. It just... happened. The doctors have no idea, either, partially since it doesn't run in his family.

Re:Nut allergies on the rise

[Anonymous Coward]

They're getting more common, too. The number of notes posted at our kid's daycare are unbelievable. Nuts are one of the most dramatic, but some kids seem sensitized to *everything* (nuts, milk, wheat ....)

A lot of these allergies just go away with time. Others are adult-onset.

The article writer misstated the source of the allergy -- it wasn't that the liver has nut-based residue, but that it has traces of the donor's nut sensitivity.

Re:Nut allergies on the rise

[Martok7]

Nut allergies are one of the most common allergies. I have been deathly allergic to nuts all my life and have had 3 hospitalization incidents. From what I have learned children are increasingly becoming deathly allergic to them. Most food products now have to put a warning if the product is made with nuts or the machine that produces it also handles nuts. I feel bad for those kids, I am in my 30's and it sucks having to make sure everything you eat isn't made with or fried with nuts or nut oil. But this thread is somewhat humorous.

this seems to be quite common

[hughk]

There have been medical writeups since Roman times and crtainly quite detailed views of a persons health since the 17th Century or so. Essentially, little or no allergies untill the 1930s or so.

Nut allergies are even newer - and extremly life threatening. It is fascinating that in this case the IgA was transplanted with the liver, but how do all the other people become allergic????

Re:Uh, no...

[Gavinsblog]

I just thought I would quote something I have seen written on packets of peanuts - seems an appropriate parody. While I dont doubt the seriousness of being allergic to nuts and know people who are - I still found the story funny. Gavin

Not that suprising

[one9nine]

1. The liver is the most bad ass organ in all the land (aside from the brain), responsible for over 500 bodily functions.

2. The liver produces complex proteins from amino acids. It wouldn't be uncommon for the transplanted liver to produce IgE (immunoglobulin E) which, if I remember correctly, is what causes the reaction that causes anaphylactic shock (fancy term for bad allergic reaction).

Re:Not that suprising

[one9nine]

That's gives me a good poll idea:

Most bad ass organ in all the land?
o Brain
o Heart
o Liver
o Kidney
o Skin
o CowboyNeal's flacid organ

Missing option...

[Ratface]

• Ass

Duh!

Re:Not that suprising

[Kopretinka]

Nice number. But... exactly how many bodily functions are there? 8-)

Re:Not that suprising

[jdiggans]

2. The liver produces complex proteins from amino acids. It wouldn't be uncommon for the transplanted liver to produce IgE (immunoglobulin E) which, if I remember correctly, is what causes the reaction that causes anaphylactic shock (fancy term for bad allergic reaction).

You remember correctly but it would indeed be strange for the liver to produce IgE. IgE is released by only mast cells, immunge cells that are not normally circulatory but that settle in tissues and do their thing in situ.

They're usually found resting in connective tissues but I can imagine a liver transplant would move a few along for the ride (and it doesn't take much IgE to do a lot of harm; it's powerful stuff). They do, however, have a limited life span (though I don't remember what it is). If only he'd waited to eat those nuts ...

-j

Re:Not that suprising

[Eccles]

You remember correctly but it would indeed be strange for the liver to produce IgE. IgE is released by only mast cells, immunge cells that are not normally circulatory but that settle in tissues and do their thing in situ.

Is any progress being made in detecting these allergies (short of the person entering anaphylactic shock) and coming up with treatments that would at least allow the person to reduce their reaction to accidental exposure?

When I die...

[Simon Field]

When I die and my organs are transplanted into people, the recipients will all have to have notices tatooed on them:

Caution: contains traces of nut.

Don't know if it's an allergy...

[Quaelin PoD]

I don't know if it would classify as an allergy, but I'd certainly have a strong sensitivity to having a nut transplant.

Asthma

[Zog The Undeniable]

If you transplant the lungs of an asthmatic into another person, they will then have asthma for the rest of their life. My UK donor card doesn't have "lungs" ticked, for that reason.

Re:Asthma

[FroMan]

Wow, is asthma that bad?

I mean, the choice of a lung that has asthma or no lung at all?

Granted IANAAsthmatic.

Maybe allergies are tied to the liver?

[dacarr]

I guess this seems a little redundant, but think of it. Person with no nut allergies gets the liver of a person with nut allergies, develops allergies himself. Perrhaps then we can use that ideal to figure that there is something in the liver that triggers the allergic reactions above and beyond the enzymes that cause the reactions unto themselves and thereby having the body turn against itself.

Word play

[PhxBlue]

Should the liver have read 'Warning: may contain traces of nut'?

Maybe we could tattoo, "Warning: nut contains traces of liver" on the guy's forehead instead?