Diagnostic utility of changes in egg-specific IgE in infants with atopic dermatitis

RATIONALE: Interpretation of sequential changes in food-specific IgE (sIgE) levels remains unclear.The relationship between oral food challenge (OFC) outcome at 12 months and sequential changes in sIgE levels during infancy has not been studied.

METHODS: A retrospective observational study was performed. Twelve-month-old infants with infantile atopic dermatitis who had egg white (EW)- and ovomucoid (OM)-sIgE levels measured at 6 and 12 months and had undergone egg OFC with 1/2 egg-equivalent heated egg powder at 12 months were enrolled, and the relationship between changes in sIgE levels and OFC outcome was analyzed.

RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients were enrolled. EW-sIgE levels significantly decreased from 6 to 12 months in the OFC-negative group, but not in the OFC-positive group. The decrease in logarithmic transformed values was significantly larger in the OFC-negative group. There was no significant association between the changes in OM-sIgE levels and OFC results, although the OM-sIgE levels at 6 months in the OFC-positive group was significantly higher.

CONCLUSIONS: For infants with atopic dermatitis, changes in EW-sIgE levels during infancy may be useful in predicting egg OFC outcome at 12 months of age. The results suggest on the utility of evaluation of changes in sIgE levels.