when some foreign particle enters the human body then immune system reacts to it and tries to destroy it, be it anything even an organ from another person. Why immune system does not react to titanium plates-that are attached to fix the broken bones?

Question

I got a titanium plate screwed in my lower jaw that got broken previously. I recently read somewhere that immune system attacks every foreign particle, even transplanted organs that’s why one has to be on immunosuppressants to live with transplanted organs.

In: 3

Answer 1

Your immune system mostly detects the proteins that show up on the outside of living cells. Titanium, obviously, has no such proteins, so there’s nothing for your immune system to sensitize against, at least not in that way.

Metal allergies are the result of [complexes of those metals with proteins already present in your body](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapten). This part I’m not certain of, but my guess would be that titanium (which is very non-reactive) doesn’t easily form protein complexes, and thus never gets into a form that your body is sensitive to – a little research suggests that titanium allergies may exist, but are pretty rare.