The effect of maternal avoidance of eggs, cow's milk, and fish during lactation on the development of IgE, IgG, and IgA antibodies in infants

Abstract

Serum levels of IgE, IgE antibodies to egg white (EW) and cow's milk (CM), IgG, and IgA antibodies to ovalbumin (OA) and β-lactoglobulin (BLG) were measured in a group of 115 infants with a family history of atopy/allergy at birth and at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months of age. The mothers of 65 infants avoided eggs, CM, and fish during the first 3 months of lactation (maternal antigen avoidance diet, D group), whereas the remaining 50 mothers had no diet restrictions (no maternal antigen avoidance diet, ND group). CM was introduced after 6 months of age and EW after 9 months. The only statistically significant difference between the D and ND group infants was a lower rate of specimens with IgE antibodies to EW and/or CM in the infants at 3 months of age ( p = 0.008). IgE antibodies to EW and/or CM appeared in 62 infants during the study period and often during complete breast-feeding. In 40 of the infants, IgE antibodies appeared before the introduction of EW and CM into the diet. The IgE concentrations of the D and the ND group infants were similar. Cord-blood IgE was a poor predictor of atopy/allergy; for example, only seven of 103 infants with double heredity for atopy/allergy had values above the 90th percentile of our normal reference. The concentrations of IgG antibodies to OA and BLG were similar in the two groups. The levels decreased significantly ( p < 0.001) from birth to 6 months of age, indicating a passive placental transfer. From 6 months of age after the introduction of CM formulas, but not eggs, there was a rise in the IgG concentrations of antibodies to both OA and BLG, indicating that low doses of EW antigen in breast milk can evoke an IgG antibody response. Babies with high IgE responses to EW also had high IgG responses to OA.