Immune responses to meat allergens

Building on the findings from the previous project, the current project, which is also funded by the FWF, focuses on the identification and precise biochemical and immunological characterisation of further meat allergens with the aim of completing the spectrum of relevant meat allergens and determining their clinical significance. The project is also dedicated to analysing the cross-reactivity between meat allergens and allergens from other animal foods (e.g. fish, seafood, insects). The knowledge about clinically relevant meat allergens and cross-reactive allergens from other animal foods will help to improve the diagnosis and treatment of meat allergies and related allergies.

Another focus of the project is research into a special form of meat allergy, known as α-gal allergy. In this unusual allergy induced by red meat, patients react with the sugar molecule α-Gal present in red meat, but the actual sensitisation to α-Gal occurs through a tick bite. In collaboration with colleagues at the Medical University of Vienna, Dr Swoboda and her team are investigating the reactions of immune cells to tick saliva and trying to identify components in tick saliva that contribute to the development of an allergic reaction to α-Gal. The hope is that a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that lead to sensitisation to α-Gal will also help to better understand allergic sensitisation to other food allergens and thus prevent it in the future.