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Allergen components strongly linked to asthma, hay fever

Patterns of immunoglobulin E responses to specific allergen components were associated with increases in distinct clinical symptoms such as asthma and hay fever, according to study results.

“We demonstrated that different patterns of IgE responses to multiple allergen components can be uncovered using latent variable modeling and that each pattern bears different associations with clinical outcomes,” Angela Simpson, MD, PhD, at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote.

Simpson and colleagues collected data from 461 children aged 11 years from the Manchester Asthma and Allergy Study, a population-based birth cohort, to assess patterns of response to broad ranges of allergen components and to investigate associations with asthma, eczema and hay fever. The researchers performed spirometry and measured exhaled nitric oxide levels and assessed airway hyperreactivity in a five-step methacholine challenge test. The researchers also measured levels of serum IgE to 112 allergic molecules from 51 sources using ImmunoCAP (Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip [ISAC]; Thermo Fisher Scientific).

Positive serum IgE was detected in 47.9% of the cohort to at least one of the 112 allergen components; 12.5% of the cohort had asthma. Allergen components were sorted into three component groups by protein families. The first group (CG1) included 27 components of plant origin belonging to eight different protein families. The second (CG2) comprised seven components primarily of mite allergens from three protein families. The final group (CG3) included 27 components of plant, animal and fungal origin from 12 protein families.

Children sensitized to CG3 were more likely to have asthma (OR = 8.2; 95% CI, 3.49-19.24) as were those sensitized to CG2 (OR = 3.6; 95% CI, 2.05-6.29). The first component group was the likeliest to be sensitized to hay fever (OR = 12.79; 95% CI, 6.84-23.9), followed by children sensitized by CG2 (OR = 2.52; 95% CI, 1.38-4.61).

The researchers said their study was limited because “there are a number of potentially important allergens that are not included on the ISAC chip, such as those from fungi.”

Disclosure: Simpson reports receiving research funding from JP Moulton Charitable Foundation, the Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Simpson also reports travel support from GlaxoSmithKline and speaker fees from Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.