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'?"

Comments

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.

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

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: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.

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.