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Allergens and endotoxin on mothers' mattresses and total immunoglobulin E in cord blood of neonates

¹ GSF-Institute of Epidemiology, National Research Centre for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany. ² Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. ³ Dept of Human Exposure Research and Epidemiology, UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle Ltd, Leipzig, ⁴ Institute of Clinical Immunology, University of Jena, Jena and ⁵ Dept of Indoor Climatology (ark), University of Jena, Erfurt, ⁶ Dr von Haunersches Kinderspital, University of Munich, Munich, and ⁷ Dept of Paediatrics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

CORRESPONDENCE: J. Heinrich, GSF-Institute of Epidemiology, Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1, D-85764, Neuherberg, Germany. Fax: 49 8931873380. E-mail: Joachim.Heinrich@gsf.de

Keywords: cat allergen, cord blood immunoglobulin E, endotoxin, house dust, mite allergen, prenatal exposures

Received: November 26, 2001
Accepted April 15, 2002

The LISA study was supported by the Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology, Grant No. 01 EG 9732 and 01 EG 9705/2. J. Douwes is supported by a research fellowship from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

The current authors examined whether mite and cat allergen and bacterial endotoxin levels in dust of the mothers' mattresses were associated with cord blood immunoglobulin (Ig)E (CB-IgE) levels in newborns.

Data from 1,332 term and normal weight neonates, from an ongoing birth cohort study, Influences of life-style related factors on the immune system and the development of allergies in childhood (LISA), with complete information on exposure to biocontaminants in mattress dust and CB-IgE were analysed.

Two thirds of CB-IgE were undetectable (<0.35 kU·L^–1). Thus, 0.35 and 0.45 kU·L^–1 (4th quartile) were chosen as cut-offs. Nonparametric smoothing (generalised additive models) showed statistically significant confounder-adjusted associations between elevated CB-IgE levels (0.45 kU·L^–1) and log-transformed exposures to cat (linear), mite (inverse u-shaped), and endotoxin (u-shaped).

After adjustment for covariables, elevated CB-IgE levels (logistic regression using the 1st–4th quartiles of exposure) were positively associated with high cat-allergen exposure and medium exposure to mite allergen, but were inversely associated with exposure to endotoxin. The associations were similar, but somewhat weaker, when 0.35 kU·L^–1 was used as cut-off.

These results, showing an association between prenatal allergen and endotoxin exposures and immunoglobulin E production, suggest that the development of foetal immune responses may be affected.

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