This study included 19 children with asthma and rhinitis compared with 28 children without disease. All participants were 10 years old and were sensitive to cockroaches. Researchers evaluated the levels of IgE, IgG, and IgG4 antibodies to 8 cockroach allergens as well as the combination of all cockroach allergens. Streptavidin ImmunoCAPs with allergens from groups 1 through 7, 9, and 11 were used to measure levels of allergen-specific antibodies, while the i6 ImmunoCAP was used to measure combination cockroach-specific IgE. Antibody levels were log-transformed through right-skewing based on a Shapiro-Wilk test result and diagnostic plot. Fisher exact or chi-squared tests were used to compare categorical variables, while continuous variables were compared using Wilcoxon or t-tests.

Children with asthma and rhinitis had significantly different cockroach-specific IgE antibody levels than those without asthma and rhinitis (ratio, 4.32; 95% CI, 1.33-14.02; P =.015). Those with asthma and rhinitis had more cockroach allergens, with 79% of those with disease recognizing up to7 allergens and 82% of those without disease recognizing up to 3 allergens. Total allergen-specific IgE was markedly greater among children with disease than without. Both groups showed varying sensitization patterns with no immunodominant allergens detected. The sum of allergen-specific IgE was significantly associated with total cockroach IgE (r=0.86; P <.001).

The researchers concluded that “component analysis of eight cockroach allergens revealed significant differences in IgE reactivity associated with the presence of asthma and rhinitis. Allergen-specific IgE titers and sensitization profiles were associated with asthma and rhinitis.”

Disclosures: Several investigators report associations with Indoor Biotechnologies and with pharmaceutical companies. See the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

Reference

Pomés A, Glesner J, Calatroni A, et al; for the NIAID-funded Inner-City Asthma Consortium. Cockroach allergen component analysis of children with or without asthma and rhinitis in an inner-city birth cohort[published online June 12, 2019]. J Allergy Clin Immunol. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2019.05.036

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