Open AccessChildren who develop allergy have low fecal alpha‐defensin levels but high beta‐defensin levels in infancy
Author(s) -
Savilahti Emma,
Kukkonen Anna Kaarina,
Haahtela Tari,
Kuitunen Mikael,
Savilahti Erkki
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
clinical and translational allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.979
H-Index - 37
ISSN - 2045-7022
DOI - 10.1186/2045-7022-1-s1-o32
Subject(s) - medicine , defensin , beta defensin , allergy , alpha (finance) , feces , beta (programming language) , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , innate immune system , immune system , surgery , construct validity , antimicrobial , patient satisfaction , computer science , programming language
Results Fecal levels of HNP1-3 and HBD2 decreased from 3 to 6 months. Low HNP1-3 and high HBD2 levels at 6 months were associated with allergy and sensitisation by the age of 5 years (p<0.05). HNP1-3 levels correlated negatively with a1-antitrypsin levels at the age of 3 months (coefficient -0.5; p<0.05) in children who developed sensitisation only or combined with allergic disorders. HBD2 levels correlated positively with TNF-a (0.7; p<0.05) in children with subsequent IgE-mediated allergy. Probiotic treatment tended (p<0.06) to increase fecal HBD2 levels at the age of 6 months compared with placebo. Conclusions Early innate immunity responses in the gut are associated with the emergence of allergy later in childhood.