Relationship of cord blood IgE with maternal, fetal, and environmental factors in the Chinese population.

Abstract

Previous studies reported that history of pregnancy and delivery and family environment might influence cord blood IgE (CB-IgE) levels and development of allergies; however, the association between them is not well-established. This study aimed at investigating the IgE level in the newborn's umbilical cord blood and its relationship with maternal, fetal, and environmental factors. A total of 989 mothers and their infants were analyzed in this study. Mothers were given a questionnaire that had a series of questions to evaluate demographic information, maternal allergic status, and environmental exposures during pregnancy. Neonatal cord blood samples were taken at the same time for IgE assay. By univariate analysis, we found statistically significant correlations between CB-IgE levels and gender (P = 0.000) and delivery mode (P = 0.017). By multivariate analysis, gender was found to have a significant association with CB-IgE levels (P = 0.001). No significant difference was found between CB-IgE levels and antenatal complications, the season of birth, birth weight, gestational age, and household income (P > 0.050). In this study, newborn gender was found to be a strong predictor of elevated CB-IgE. The delivery mode was a probable predictor.