CLINICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FOOD ALLERGY IN CHILDHOOD

Abstract

ABSTRACT. 36 children of atopic mothers (group I) and 17 children of healthy mothers (Group II) were selected for a study of the relationship between the onset of atopic symptoms and the occurrence of IgE‐, IgG‐ and IgA‐antibodies, with special regard to the development of antibodies to β‐lactoglobulin (BLG) and ovomucoid (OM). Atopic symptoms developed in 50 % of the children in group I and in no one of group II. The cord serum IgE concentrations were shown to be predictive of subsequent development of atopic symptoms, and the levels remained higher in group I than in group II. The serum IgA concentrations were low and within normal limits in both groups and bore no relationship to atopic heredity or to later development of atopic symptoms. However, at six months of age the serum IgA levels were lower in the children of atopic mothers (p<0.1). Low titers of IgE antibodies to BLG and OM occurred in several children of Group I but seemed to have clinical significance in only a few children. IgG antibodies to BLG and OM were shown to occur frequently and in equivalent titers in cord sera and maternal sera indicating a transport across the placental barrier. High cord titers were found in children of group I who remained asymptomatic, indicating a possible protective function by these antibodies. The titers to BLG were higher in group I than in group II. Most titers decreased during the first months of life and then a rise occurred.