4 ms·
> The bite transmits a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into the person's body Is this similar to a prion disease, but a malicious sugar instead of protein?
by donatj 5y ago
> The bite transmits a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into the person's body
Is this similar to a prion disease, but a malicious sugar instead of protein?
- EamonnMR 5y agoNo, this is an allergy.
- armchairhacker 5y agoA bit. It's more an allergy, like a peanut or shellfish. Prions change the affected protein itself. This alpha-gal protein triggers a broken immune response where your body learns to identify regular animal protein as a foreign invader, so henceforth whenever you eat animal protein you get an immune reaction.
- jagraff 5y agoNo. Prions are misfolded proteins - they replicate by inducing correctly folded proteins to misfold when they come in contact. As a result, misfolded proteins build up in the brain, continually inducing even more proteins to misfold, eventually building up to a critical mass and causing neurons to die. By contrast, alpha-gal seems to trigger an immune response, which induces the immune system to create antibodies against it. It seems that something in red meat is similar enough to alpha-gal that it also triggers this new immune response, causing an allergy. But it doesn't cause a build up of alpha-gal in the body over time.