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Cord blood allergen-specific IgE is associated with reduced IFN-γ production by cord blood cells: The Protection against Allergy—Study in Rural Environments (PASTURE) study

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Background

It is currently discussed whether allergic sensitization may start in utero under the influence of the maternal immune system and environmental determinants.

Objective

To investigate the relationship between allergen-specific cord blood (CB) IgE levels, parental sensitization, CB cytokine production, and environmental influences.

Methods

As part of an ongoing multicenter birth cohort study, allergen-specific IgE antibodies against 20 common seasonal, perennial, and food allergens were measured in blood samples from 922 neonates, 922 mothers, and 835 fathers. Supernatants from stimulated CB cells were assessed for the production of IL-5, IFN-γ, IL-10, and TNF-α.

Results

Allergen-specific IgE antibodies were detectable in 23.9% of newborns. Contamination with maternal serum was excluded by several means of analyses, including the absence of IgA antibodies. Clear correlation between maternal and fetal IgE was found only for hen's egg, cow's milk, and soybean allergen. Fetal IgE correlated negatively with the level of IFN-γ production, but not with IL-5 and IL-10.

Conclusion

Allergen-specific IgE antibodies most probably of fetal origin are detectable in CB and correlate with a lowered CB IFN-γ production.

Section snippets

Study population

This study involves families recruited for the multicenter PASTURE study, an ongoing longitudinal birth cohort study designed to evaluate risk factors and preventive factors for atopic diseases. The design of this cohort has been described in detail elsewhere.10 Two groups of pregnant women in their third trimester were recruited for participation from Finland, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria: (1) women living on livestock farms, and (2) women living in the same regions, but not on

Study population

A total of 933 children, 1064 mothers, and 979 fathers had complete values for IgE. Paired IgE values from CB plus maternal blood and CB plus paternal blood were available for 922 and 835 children, respectively. These child-parent pairs are subject to the following analyses (Fig 1).

Detection of IgA in CB

Because IgA is usually not detectable in CB, the presence of IgA in CB is an indicator for contamination by maternal blood. Therefore, IgA was measured in a subset of the study population. Sixty IgE-positive CB

Discussion

In the past 20 years, detection of IgE antibodies in CB has been extensively analyzed and studied with regard to evaluate risk assessment for the development of allergies and asthma later in life.13, 14 Because of the low predictive values, total IgE levels in CB could not be recommended as allergy risk screening in the general population. More recently, the measurements of IgE antibodies in CB have been gaining new attention.15, 16 This is predominantly related to scientific questions around

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    • Cited by (0)

    Supported by the European Union (research grant QLK4-CT-2001-00250).

    Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: M. J. Ege receives grant support from the German Research Fund and the European Union. R. P. Lauener is a consultant for Phadia Inc and Nestlé Inc and receives grant support from the Swiss National Research Organization, the European Union, and the Kühne Foundation. D. A. Vuitton receives grant support from Agence Nationale Française de la recherche and Ministère Française de las Santé and has provided legal consultation or expert testimony on topics related to environmental health and biological and medical services. E. von Mutius has received grant support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the European Commission, and the Bavarian Ministry for Research. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

    ∗

    These authors contributed equally to this work.

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    Copyright © 2008 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.