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Cow's milk allergy affected fatty acids, asthma risk in children
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Serum fatty acid proportions and asthma risk differed between young children with cow’s milk allergy and those without, according to study results.
Mirka Lumia, MD, a pediatrician and neonatologist, and colleagues asked children in Finland who at aged 5 years were still participating in a type 1 diabetes prediction and prevention (DIPP) study begun in 1994 to join the DIPP Allergy Study. Parents completed a questionnaire, and blood samples were obtained for serum IgE levels analysis.
Mirka Lumia
There were 142 children with asthma from the DIPP study (60.6% boys) and 284 matched controls included in the allergy study. Median age at asthma diagnosis was 3 years.
“Reported CMA [cow’s milk allergy] and maternal and paternal asthma or allergic rhinitis were associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma by age 5 years,” the researchers reported.
Children with reported CMA (n=59) and others (n=320) aged 1 year had different serum fatty acid (FA) proportions. Those with CMA had greater serum proportions of oleic acid, linoleic acid, a-linoleic acid and total n-6 [polyunsaturated fatty acids], while the other FA proportions were lower compared with children without reported CMA.
When CMA was considered a putative confounder, there was a greater proportion of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) associated with a decreased risk for asthma.
“Changes in serum FA composition might predispose to CMA and subsequently to asthma because these diseases are within the same spectrum,” the investigators concluded. “Diagnosed CMA results in elimination of milk and dairy products from the diet and thus further changes in serum FA profiles. These changes might modify the immunologic reactions of the child already in early life.
“Of the 17 FAs studied, after adjusting for CMA, only EPA remained inversely associated with the risk of asthma.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.