Glycans and Glycan-specific IgE in Clinical and Molecular Allergology - Sensitization, Diagnostics and Clinical Symptoms

Glycan-specific IgE antibodies are cross-reacting with highly similar or even identical carbohydrate structures on a variety of different natural allergens, the so-called cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCDs). In clinical practice, CCDs often interfere with the specificity of in vitro allergy diagnostics, thus impairing allergy therapy decisions for individual patients. Strikingly, these IgE antibodies directed against CCD often do not cause clinically relevant allergy symptoms. Opposed to that, the IgE-binding glycan allergen galactose-α-(1,3)-galactose (α-Gal) is associated with IgE-mediated delayed anaphylaxis in meat allergy.

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