Two papers written by research groups from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Group looked into the correlation between caesarean sections (CS) and allergies, and whether introducing allergenic foods during infancy would increase the risk of high immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization, or the tendency to create IgE antibodies to fight against common allergens.
The reports were published last year by Scientific Reports and Pediatric Research respectively.
Blood cells were tested for their immune responses, while lung functionality tests were performed at six and 12 months of age, and IgE levels and clinical outcomes were assessed at 12 months, said Liao Sui-ling (廖穗綾), one of the doctors who wrote the paper published in Scientific Reports.
CS deliveries lead to abnormal neonatal immune responses and more bacterial colonization of the airway in late infancy, which has been shown to increase the risk of recurrent wheezing and asthma in early life, the paper said.
The researchers said that as the rate of CS continues to rise — from 12 percent of worldwide births in 2000 to 21 percent in 2015 — it is important to further explore how CS could affect respiratory health.
The second paper, coauthored by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Keelung branch pediatrician Hua Man-chin (花曼津), sought to explore whether introducing allergenic foods during infancy would increase the risk of IgE sensitization.
Researchers fed six possible allergens — fruits, egg whites, egg yolks, fish, shellfish and peanuts — to infants between six and 12 months old, Hua said.
Data was obtained through age-specific questionnaires given to the parents, Hua said.
When infants reached 12 months of age, researchers compiled data on levels of antibody proteins in the infants’ feces, as well as serum levels of total IgE, IgE specific to 20 foods and IgE specific to 20 inhalant allergens.
At 12 months, the infants with higher IgE sensitization had been introduced to fewer allergenic food items during infancy compared with the infants who were given up to two allergenic food items, as well as infants introduced to at least three allergenic food items.
The results showed a significantly lower risk of IgE sensitization for the latter two groups and lower total IgE levels.
In addition, not introducing egg whites or yolks was significantly related to IgE sensitization.
The research concluded that increasing the diversity of allergenic foods in infancy could protect infants from IgE sensitization.
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