Relationship between early exposure to egg yolk and atopic dermatitis in 18 months old children
Abstract
Background: Atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome (AEDS) is the most frequent inflammatory disease of the skin in the childhood. A cause-effect link between food allergy and atopic dermatitis (AD) has been established and sensitization to hen’s egg is considered a strong predictor for AD. Egg yolk is usually introduced into the child’s diet in the first year. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of early introduction of egg yolk into the diet on AD prevalence in 18 month old children.
Methods: 269 infants with birth weight at least 3000 g and with a positive history of parental allergy confirmed by allergy testing were included. They were divided in three groups according their age at the introduction of boiled egg into the child’s diet: group A – children eating egg yolk from 6 month; group B – children eating egg yolk from 9 month; group C – children eating egg yolk from 12 month. Children from all groups were exclusively breast fed for at least 6 month while their mothers were on a diet without eggs. The diagnosis of AD was made according to the criteria of Hanifin and Rajka. At 18 months of age sensitization to egg yolk was evaluated with specific IgE testing and skin-prick test (SPT). Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 10.0 using the MantelHaenszel chi-square test.
Results: In group A 57.1%, group B 31.7% and in group C 21.3% of children developed AEDS (p < 0.0001). Elevated serum total IgE had 58.9% of children from group A, 34.1% from group B and 18.7% from group C (p < 0.0001). Elevated specific IgE antibodies to egg yolk had 25.0% of children from group A, 12.2% from B and 6.7% from C (p = 0.001). Positive SPT with egg yolk had in group A 37.5%, B 23.1% and C 18.7% of children with AD (p = 0.099).
Conclusions: We demonstrated a negative influence of early introduction of egg yolk into the diet on AD and AEDS prevalence in a group of newborns at risk for atopic diseases.
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