I have a cousin who is allergic to MSG. I'm curious about how this is possible, since glutamate is always present in pretty large amounts in the body; it's one of the products of the Krebs cycle, among other things. So why would someone have an allergic reaction to glutamate that they ingest, but not to the multiple grams of glutamate that are naturally floating around in your body at any given time? Or all the glutamate that's produced when you hydrolize protein during digestion? Any clarification would be appreciated.

I think Casey Kasem wife is allergic to sperm. That's a natural thing. The allergy was discovered when they went to a fertility doctor. I swear, some people spill their guts on Oprah.
Anyways, I wonder how many infertile couples have that issue

I think Casey Kasem wife is allergic to sperm. That's a natural thing.
Sure, people can be allergic to all sorts of natural things; I'm wondering how someone could be allergic to something that's naturally found in their own body.

Sure, people can be allergic to all sorts of natural things; I'm wondering how someone could be allergic to something that's naturally found in their own body.

The same way we're "allergic" to water. Breathe in too much, and you die. Yet our lungs are constantly filling with fluids. Or how we're "allergic" to HCl. Our stomach is full of hydrochloric acid, yet if you get it on your hand, it hurts. Organisms are compartmentalized. If you get the wrong thing in the wrong place, it hurts. It appears glutamate outside of cells isn't good for your cousin.

ATP triggers nociceptors. That's because ATP shouldn't be in the extracellular environment, so when our cells get damaged, ATP goes spilling everywhere and binds pain receptors, triggering them.

The same way we're "allergic" to water. Breathe in too much, and you die. Yet our lungs are constantly filling with fluids. Or how we're "allergic" to HCl. Our stomach is full of hydrochloric acid, yet if you get it on your hand, it hurts. Organisms are compartmentalized. If you get the wrong thing in the wrong place, it hurts. It appears glutamate outside of cells isn't good for your cousin.

ATP triggers nociceptors. That's because ATP shouldn't be in the extracellular environment, so when our cells get damaged, ATP goes spilling everywhere and binds pain receptors, triggering them.
By "allergic" I meant, of course, an inappropriate immune response. Drowning or being burned by acid doesn't have anything to do with allergic reactions.

I think Casey Kasem wife is allergic to sperm. That's a natural thing. The allergy was discovered when they went to a fertility doctor. I swear, some people spill their guts on Oprah.

Anyways, I wonder how many infertile couples have that issue
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M*W: Years ago, I remember seeing an article about Casey K and his wife with their new baby. Now I wonder if it was adopted, IV-fertilized or what? Did his wife just take a bunch of Benedryl and spread her legs? What gives?

The immune system isn't perfect. I went to high school with a girl whose immune system would attack her own organs if a certain hormone was secreted. I forgot which but, she had the gland removed, so her flare ups only happen from time to time. A glitch in either one's own DNA or perhaps something went wrong during prenatal development. But she thinks it's better than not having an immune system.

By "allergic" I meant, of course, an inappropriate immune response. Drowning or being burned by acid doesn't have anything to do with allergic reactions.

Oh.

My hypothesis is that she has antibodies for glutamate, and so whenever glutamate gets into her system, it causes an allergic reaction. The reason why she doesn't always have a full blown allergy is because the glutamate is contained in cells, where the antibodies don't hang out. When the MHC genes turn on, the body has to be recognized as "not-foreign", otherwise you can get autoimmune problems. The MHC genes also turn on & off in really weird ways, which has the potential to lead to allergies, such as shellfish or cockroach poop.

Oops missed this thread. MSG or monosodium glutamate is a neurotransmitter that stimulates the firing of neurons in brain cells. What is called an "allergy" to MSG is actually food intolerance or food sensitivity.

Research from John Hopkins has revealed that irritability caused by nervous system hyperstimulation [as in the case of MSG sensitivity] can cause an immune reaction.

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered, to their surprise, that a nervous system protein may have a significant role in asthma, hay fever and other allergies. According to the new research reported in the May issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the protein, nerve growth factor (NGF), may be responsible for making allergy sufferers more sensitive to irritants such as tobacco smoke.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2000/MAY/000518.HTM

Some other research on glutamate as a ligand has shown us that it increases histamine by 150%

A microdialysis method was used to study the effects of glutamate on the in vivo release of histamine from the anterior hypothalamic area of rats anesthetized with urethane. Infusion of 1 mM glutamate through a microdialysis probe increased histamine release to about 150% of the basal release.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1381677

So it is quite possible that the reaction of your friend is a sensitivity to the MSG that presents as an allergic reaction.

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M*W: Years ago, I remember seeing an article about Casey K and his wife with their new baby. Now I wonder if it was adopted, IV-fertilized or what? Did his wife just take a bunch of Benedryl and spread her legs? What gives?

Yep, IVF. She is their only child.
I kept imagining his wife's privates or mouth swelling up, but apparently the allergy just made it so her uterus was a hostile environment for the sperm.

....MSG or monosodium glutamate is a neurotransmitter that stimulates the firing of neurons in brain cells....

any why is it put on food??

As is often the case, wikipedia answers your questions....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate

any why is it put on food??

Because it stimulates the taste center and enhances taste. Thats the layman version of the answer. :)

technical stuff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami#Taste_receptors

It stimulates the taste center and enhances taste??? Why isn't it sold as a sex aid?

Because it works to enhance one of five specific tastes through receptors on the tongue. The one enhanced by MSG is umami, which is the strong flavor in seaweed.

In as much as it describes the flavor common to savory products such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms, umami is similar to Brillat-Savarin's concept of osmazome, an early attempt to describe the main flavoring component of meat as extracted in the process of making stock.

I'm wondering how someone could be allergic to something that's naturally found in their own body.It's been postulated that allergies are manifestations of a malfunctioning immune system. One possible explanation is that modern children are too well protected from pathogens so their immune systems are never calibrated to guard them against the right substances. Some dire illnesses like fibromyalgia appear to be the body's allergic reaction to its own tissue.

I mean, geeze, how could a person 500 years ago have survived to breeding age with an allergy to wheat? Yet today it's an epidemic. When I was a kid, the smell of perfume was one of life's little pleasures and virtually all women wore it. Today so many people are allergic to it that it's banned in some offices.

Or dogs. Who the hell was allergic to dogs fifty years ago? Every home had three of them.

Peanut butter? We all ate it three or four times a week.

As is often the case, wikipedia answers your questions....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate
Except, of course, my question about how people can be allergic to something that occurs naturally in their own body. There isn't anything in the wikipedia article about that.

The immune system isn't perfect. I went to high school with a girl whose immune system would attack her own organs if a certain hormone was secreted. I forgot which but, she had the gland removed, so her flare ups only happen from time to time. A glitch in either one's own DNA or perhaps something went wrong during prenatal development. But she thinks it's better than not having an immune system.

Sorry to be all morbidly curious, but which hormone was it?

Does she have side effects from haivng that endocrine gland removed?

Except, of course, my question about how people can be allergic to something that occurs naturally in their own body. There isn't anything in the wikipedia article about that.

Is something still unclear?

I think Casey Kasem wife is allergic to sperm. That's a natural thing. The allergy was discovered when they went to a fertility doctor. I swear, some people spill their guts on Oprah.
Anyways, I wonder how many infertile couples have that issue

Sperm, which should be naturally found on ANY woman's body :)

IN any woman's body, rather :D unles of course you use a condom.

Sperm, which should be naturally found on ANY woman's body :)

:p bastard, you sound just like my husband. :rolleyes:

IN any woman's body, rather :D unles of course you use a condom.

Ever heard of a facial?

IN any woman's body, rather :D unles of course you use a condom.

Turn off safe search, and do a google search for "money shot". Then we'll be on the same page :)

My immune system has decided that the nerve cells which control relaxation of round muscle along the left size of my GI tract are bad, and has killed them.

Why? Don't know. Neither do doctors. After 25 years, 10 doctors, at least one article published about my condition and three surgeries, I'm apparently still "allergic" to myself. They just call it an "Auto-immune disorder" due to a lack of a better name.


My step-mom is "allergic" (has an adverse reaction) to MSG - sea cucumber extract and the artificial variety both. She suffers rashes and shortness of breath when exposed to it, even in fairly small amounts. At least one time, after we ordered dinner from an MSG-free restaurant and she had a serious enough reaction that we took her to the emergency room, the restaurant admitted that they were not MSG free, and only advertised as such because they thought the "allergy" was only in the mind. Once they realized that people could actually have a reaction, they changed policy.

I've never understood how an individual can be hypersensitive to water, when it makes up most of our body mass.
Yet, it happens:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-520329/The-teenage-girl-allergic-WATER.html