Another woman claims an allergy to water.

Frank_Baker

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9 years ago

Another woman claims an allergy to water.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2677824/Rain-sweat-tears-kill-Mother-tells-daily-battle-extremely-rare-allergy-WATER.html

This makes no sense.

I would have believed her if she didn't mention that she cannot even drink any liquid containing water (there is a condition on the SKIN where an oily chemical, reacts with water and forms an antigen the person is allergic to. The water is NOT the allergen however, but the transport. It is called Aquagenic Urticaria, but the antigen is NOT water)

The fact that she mentions she cannot drink water, or properly drink anything with water in it, tells me she is trying to tell us she's allergic to water internally.

Aren't your mast cells surrounded by water molecules? This would mean she should be having a CONSTANT allergic reaction.

Every single time I see an article about ''water allergy'' the person always mentions how they suffer an internal reaction.. which goes against the ''skin allergy'' prospect

Thoughts?

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habiba

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Staff Member

9 years ago

Quote from: Frank_Baker (9 years ago)

Aren't your mast cells surrounded by water molecules? This would mean she should be having a CONSTANT allergic reaction.

Every cell is surrounded by water, not just the immune cells, so this doesn't make sense to me. Probably a medical mystery. There are a lot of medical mysteries though. Reason these mysteries go unsolved is because the condition itself is not worth studying if it only affects a very tiny percentage of people. Neutral Dummy

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Frank_Baker Author

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9 years ago

So you're saying, she should be ina constant state of shock?

Question: Can water molecules even bind to IgE receptors? I thought only proteins and other large, complex molecules could do that.

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habiba

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Staff Member

9 years ago

I think individual water molecules are too tiny to be recognized by the receptor Happy Dummy

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Frank_Baker Author

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9 years ago

What about the IgE receptor being surrounded by water molecules? Would it ''see'' multiple molecules as an antigen? Proteins are multiple molecules if you think about it (amino acids)

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habiba

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Staff Member

9 years ago

I understand that lol A single water molecule is 3 atoms. In comparison, a single amino acid back bone has nearly 10

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Frank_Baker Author

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9 years ago

Yes, but I'm wondering if the IgE receptor would react to multiple H2O molecules occupying the receptor at once - acting as one big molecule, if you will.

What if the IgE receptor is hydrophillic instead of hydrophobic? Would this cause the mast cell to be stimulated by water?

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habiba

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Staff Member

9 years ago

Quote from: Frank_Baker (9 years ago)

Yes, but I'm wondering if the IgE receptor would react to multiple H2O molecules occupying the receptor at once - acting as one big molecule, if you will.

The amino acids collectively determine how the antigen-binding site will interact with the antigen. Therefore, a single amino acid within the antigen-binding site won't interact with a single molecule of water; the water molecule would have to interact with all of them somehow, which is physically impossible Monkey

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What if the IgE receptor is hydrophillic instead of hydrophobic? Would this cause the mast cell to be stimulated by water?

Why should it matter?

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Frank_Baker Author

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9 years ago Edited: 9 years ago, Frank_Baker

Some neurotransmitters are the size of amino acids, but they can still bind to protein receptors.

Post Merge: 9 years ago

Also, here is a case of a person who tested positive for anti-caffeine IgE.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1398-9995.57.s73.24_53.x/full

Caffeine is a tiny molecule! It also isn't a protein

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habiba

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Staff Member

9 years ago

No such thing as h2o receptors in nature though

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Frank_Baker Author

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#10

9 years ago

That doesn't mean they couldn't arise in an unfortunate mishap.

The receptor to the amino acid sized molecule doesn't even look at all the atoms. It fits into the receptor so in reality the receptor would be looking at 5 atoms not all 10 unless the receptor wrapped itself around the molecule.

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habiba

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#11

Staff Member

9 years ago

BUT naturally is doesn't happen. If it did, surely it would be unfortunate because person would be dead by now Sad Dummy

Oh, and the antigen's atoms do interact with the R-sites of the amino acids collectively. Sometimes they'll even bend the antigen or ligand depending on what receptor is responsible for.

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Frank_Baker Author

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#12

9 years ago

So how is this woman, who claims she is SO allergic to water she cannot even drink anything containing the stuff without going into anaphylaxis, (carrying Epi-Pens at the ready!!) not reacting to her extracellular water?

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duddy

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#13

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9 years ago

Quote from: Frank_Baker (9 years ago)

The human body needs food and water to survive. A human can go for more than three weeks without food (Mahatma Gandhi survived 21 days of complete starvation), but water is a different story. At least 60% of the adult body is made of it and every living cell in the body needs it to keep functioning.

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