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Parental hay fever reinforces IgE to pollen as pre‐clinical biomarker of hay fever in childhood
Author(s) -
Hatzler Laura,
Panetta Valentina,
Illi Sabina,
Hofmaier Stephanie,
Rohrbach Alexander,
Hakimeh Dani,
Bauer Carl P.,
Hoffman Ute,
Forster Johannes,
Zepp Fred,
Schuster Antje,
Stock Philippe,
Wahn Ulrich,
Keil Thomas,
Lau Susanne,
Matricardi Paolo M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pediatric allergy and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.269
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1399-3038
pISSN - 0905-6157
DOI - 10.1111/pai.12248
Subject(s) - hay fever , phleum , medicine , immunoglobulin e , allergy , pollen , immunology , risk factor , antibody , biology , botany
Background An early IgE response to grass or birch pollen can anticipate seasonal allergic rhinitis to pollen later in life or remain clinically silent. Objective To identify risk factors early in life that allow discriminating pathogenic from non‐pathogenic IgE responses and contribute to the development of seasonal allergic rhinitis to grass pollen. Methods The German Multicentre Allergy Study examined a birth cohort born in 1990. A questionnaire was yearly administered and blood samples collected at age 1,2,3,5,6,7,10,13 yr. The definition of the primary outcome grass‐ and birch‐pollen‐related seasonal allergic rhinitis ( SAR g, SAR b) was based on nasal symptoms in June/July and April, respectively. Serum IgE antibodies to Phleum pratense and Betula verrucosae extracts were monitored with immune‐enzymatic singleplex assays. Results Of the 820 examined children, 177 and 148 developed SAR g and SAR b, respectively. Among healthy children aged 3 or more years, IgE to grass pollen was the strongest risk factor of SAR g ( OR 10.39, 95% CI 6.1–17.6, p < 0.001), while parental hay fever was the only risk factor in early childhood independently associated with future SAR g (1 parent: OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.4–4.5, p < 0.001; 2 parents: OR 4.17, 95% CI 1.7–10.1) and SAR b (1 parent OR : 5.21, 95% CI 2.20–12.4, p < 0.001; 2 parents: OR 8.02, 95% CI 2.0–32.9, p < 0.001). Parental hay fever was associated with an increase of the concentration of pollen‐specific IgE in seropositive subjects, after the age of 6 and was also a hallmark of molecularly more complex specific IgE responses to grass or birch pollen at age 6 or older. Conclusions Parental hay fever and specific IgE to grass and/or birch pollen are strong pre‐clinical determinants and potentially good predictors of seasonal allergic rhinitis.