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Ovalbumin‐specific IgE/IgG4 ratio might improve the prediction of cooked and uncooked egg tolerance development in egg‐allergic children
Author(s) -
VazquezOrtiz M.,
Pascal M.,
JiménezFeijoo R.,
Lozano J.,
Giner M. T.,
Alsina L.,
MartínMateos M. A.,
Plaza A. M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
clinical and experimental allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2222
pISSN - 0954-7894
DOI - 10.1111/cea.12273
Subject(s) - ovalbumin , egg allergy , egg white , immunoglobulin e , allergy , medicine , logistic regression , immunology , antibody , biology , food science , antigen
Summary Background Accurate predictors of natural tolerance development to cooked and uncooked egg are needed in egg‐allergic patients. Objective To compare the diagnostic performance of different immunological tests in relation to egg allergy versus tolerance. Methods Children aged 5–18 years diagnosed with IgE‐mediated egg allergy were prospectively recruited. All followed an egg‐free diet. Prick test and specific IgE ( sIgE ) to ovalbumin, ovomucoid and egg white, ovalbumin‐ sIgG 4 and ovomucoid‐ sIgG 4 were determined. By boiled and raw egg challenges, children were classified as cooked egg allergic (CEA, n = 50) or tolerant (CET, n = 35), and uncooked egg allergic (UEA, n = 64) or tolerant (UET, n = 21). Statistics. Comparative analysis ( CEA vs. CET and UEA vs. UET ). Multivariate logistic regression. Partial receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of tests in relation to CEA and UEA . Negative decision points were defined as cut‐offs with sensitivity 95%. Results Ovalbumin‐ sIgG 4 resulted an independent protective factor for uncooked egg allergy. To identify patients with high probability of egg tolerance, ovalbumin‐ sIgE / sIgG 4 tended to perform better than sIgE and prick, specifically in children with ovalbumin‐ sIgE < 1.9 kU/L (for UEA) and ovomucoid‐ sIgE < 2.12 kU/L (for CEA). The most accurate cut‐offs to recommend challenges were ovalbumin‐ sIgE / sIgG 4 below 2.49 for cooked egg and 1.45 for uncooked egg, which associated 89.5% and 80% probability of tolerance (negative likelihood ratios 0.08 and 0.06), respectively. These cut‐offs identified correctly as tolerant an additional 23% and 14% of children with negative challenges to cooked and uncooked egg, respectively, in comparison with sIgE negative decision points. Additionally, prick test tended to perform better than sIgE alone in predicting cooked and uncooked egg tolerance for ovomucoid‐ sIgE < 0.92 kU/L and ovalbumin‐ sIgE < 1.37 kU/L, respectively. Conclusions Ovalbumin‐specific IgG4 is an independent predictor of tolerance development to uncooked egg. Ovalbumin‐ sIgE / sIgG 4 ratio, followed by skin prick test (SPT), seems to perform better than sIgE in identifying egg‐allergic children with high probability of tolerance to cooked and uncooked egg over follow‐up.