Longitudinal trajectory of allergen-specific IgE levels from prenatal stage to early life

[[abstract]]Background: Previous studies have suggested that children with immune-response alterations at birth have an increased risk of developing allergic diseases in early life. However, the longitudinal trajectory of allergen-specific IgE levels from the prenatal stage to early life has remained largely unexplored. Method: In this study, we measured 20 allergen-specific IgE levels using an automated microfluidic-based multiplexed immunoassay system (BioICTM Allergenspecific IgE Detection Kit- AD40 Panel; Agnitio Science and Technology, Hsinchu, Taiwan) and examined the relationship between 20 allergen-specific IgE levels (including: D. pteronyssinus, D. farinae, Blomia tropicalis, cat dander, dog dander, German cockroach, Bermuda grass, Timothy grass, ragweed, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, egg white, milk, codfish, wheat, peanut, soybean, almond, crab and shrimp) in the blood samples of mothers, cord blood and infants at 12 months of age. Results: A significant level of agreement was observed for the 20 examined allergenspecific IgE levels in the blood samples of mothers, cord blood and infants at 12 months of age. The results from this study suggest that the influence of maternal allergen-specific IgE levels on infantimmune response might occur at birth and then wane in infants at 12 months of age in this Asian study sample. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the prenatal in utero environment influences IgE levels at birth. Our results further demonstrate that primary sensitization can occur transplacentally in utero, and that fetuses can respond to transplacental priming by making their own allergen-specific IgE, which is maintained at least until infants reach their first year of life