Quantitative analysis of IgE antibodies food and inhalant allergens in children 4 years old reflects the likelihood of allergic disease

Abstract

Rationale In many countries 1 child of 4 has an allergic disease and early diagnosis is warranted. Methods In a prospective birth cohort study 3,743 first degree relatives (92%) to children at four years of age answered a symptom questionnaire. Children were classified as having any allergic disease, i.e. asthma, suspected allergic rhinits (SAR), AEDS or oral-gastro-intestinal symptoms (OGIS). Blood samples were obtained from 2,612 of these children and analyzed for IgE antibodies (ab) towards the most common eight airborne and six food allergens. Results Sensitization to inhalant allergens such as birch, cat and timothy was present as the most prevalent allergens, and sensitization to birch, peanut, cat and horse revealed the highest IgE-ab levels. The sum of the IgE-ab levels of the positive allergens above 17.5 kU A/L gave a likelihood of almost 75% to identify a child with any allergic disease. A similar likelihood was obtained for identification of disease when IgE ab were positive towards four allergens. Redundant for the likelihood to identify asthma, a significant interaction (p=0.0035) was found for the combination of the sum of IgE-ab levels and number of allergens positive at test, whereas for SAR the sum of IgE levels appeared to be of importance (p<0.001) and for AEDS solely the sum of positive allergens at test only (p=0.005). Conclusions A certain allergen profile of common allergens, and with use of the sum of the IgE-ab levels combined with the number of positive allergens tests, appear to be efficient diagnostic tools to identify allergic disease in children.