Mesquite Cross-reactivity

I’m so excited! The person who did the research, which our office participated in, Mesquite Cross-reactivity, was in the testing room this week. I got to test her and pick her brain. I didn’t ambush her. I made sure she was willing (and a little eager, I think) to talk about her work.

For those of you who have never visited our allergy testing room and have no idea why I am excited about mesquite cross-reactivity let me explain.

Our testing methods are different from most conventional allergy testing. We do not test multiple allergens at one time on the back or forearm. We test one thing at a time on the upper arm near the shoulder. We use what is called intracutaneous allergy testing. A small needle- just the tip- is inserted under the skin and a small amount of the antigen is injected. This process creates a bubble we call a wheal. This weal is measured and the patient is given a clipboard with a sheet of paper and a timer. The patient records any symptoms at the approximate time they occur according to the timer. After 8-10 minutes the patient returns to the tester, the wheal is measured to see if it has grown and any symptoms are discussed. The process continues until we find a neutralizing (nonreactive) dose for each antigen. These doses are used to prepare an extract, which the patient takes as an injection or sublingual (under the tongue) drop. The testing process takes longer than conventional allergy testing, but relief of symptoms can occur much sooner, according to our patients who have tried both methods.

Now, why is mesquite cross-reactivity such a big deal? If we test a patient for mesquite, the neutralizing dose helps cover them for other things they may be allergic to. Based on my conversation with my testing patient who spent years researching this phenomenon, I’ve come up with this explanation: the mesquite antigen has certain chemical structures, proteins for example, which are identical to those found in many other common allergens; because of this commonality mesquite extract alone can give relief of symptoms associated with those other allergens. It’s more complicated than the explanation I’ve given, but this allows for a good understanding of how the method works. The patient spends less time (and money) testing and gets satisfactory results- relief of symptoms. Not every patient gets adequate relief with cross-reactivity antigen treatment, but many do.

My patient said she was grateful and happy that other patients are benefiting from her research. She has recently done similar research with onion and garlic cross- reactivity, which our office is using to treat our patients. She left us a CD with some of her work on it. If I get a chance to look over it, and can understand it, I may have more to share later. Until then, if you would like to visit our Center to see if you might find relief of allergy symptoms, give us a call.