Prematurity at birth reduces the long-term risk of atopy.
J Allergy Clin Immunol
; 107(2): 229-34, 2001 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11174187
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Antigen exposure in early life has long-lasting effects on atopic sensitization. Thus the predisposition to atopy of children born preterm can be assumed to differ from that of children born at term.OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between premature birth and atopy.METHODS:
At an outpatient clinic, we examined 2 groups of 10-year-old children, 72 who were born preterm (birth weight < 1500 g) and 65 who were born at term (birth weight > 2500 g). The atopy data were collected with a questionnaire, by performing skin prick testing, and by measuring the serum total IgE level, 3 allergen-specific IgE levels, the eosinophil cationic protein level, and the blood eosinophil level. The data on perinatal and neonatal events affecting the preterm children were collected from the hospital records.RESULTS:
By the age of 10 years, the children born preterm had significantly less atopy than the children born at term 15% versus 31% of children in the 2 groups were defined as having had obvious atopy (P = .03, odds ratio 0.41, 95% CI 0.18-0.93). The mean value of total IgE level was significantly higher in the term group, 74 kU/L versus 41 kU/L (P = .02). By skin prick testing, the children born at term had positive reactions 2 to 3 times more often; 37% versus 17% of children in the groups had at least 1 positive reaction (P = .007).CONCLUSION:
Our data show that prematurity at birth is linked with a decreased long-term risk of atopic sensitization.
Buscar no Google
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Recém-Nascido Prematuro
/
Hipersensibilidade Imediata
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Newborn
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2001
Tipo de documento:
Article