Allergen
Cat ownership is a risk factor for the development of anti-cat IgE but not current wheeze at age 5 years in an inner-city cohort

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Background

Cat ownership is inversely associated with atopy and asthma in some areas of the world, but the relevance of cat ownership to allergic disease in the inner city is less known.

Objective

We sought to evaluate the relationship between cat ownership and the development of early sensitization and wheeze.

Methods

By using a prospective birth cohort study, Dominican and African American mothers living in New York City underwent repeated questionnaires about their child from birth to age 5 years. Sera collected from children at ages 2 (n = 323), 3 (n = 336), and 5 (n = 242) years were assayed for anti-cat IgE and anti–Fel d 1 IgG antibodies.

Results

Cat ownership was a significant risk factor for the development of anti-cat IgE by age 2 years (risk ratio [RR], 6.4; 95% CI, 1.9-22) but not for anti-cat IgE development between the ages of 2 and 5 years (RR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.24-2.3). Current wheeze was significantly more common among those children with anti-cat IgE at ages 3 (RR, 3.5; 95% CI, 2.1-6.0) and 5 (RR, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.3-4.9) years. Cat ownership was inversely associated with current wheeze at age 5 years among children without anti-cat IgE (RR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.083-0.81). Among children with anti-cat IgE, a similar trend was observed (RR, 0.57; P = .044, Fisher exact test), although one with borderline statistical significance.

Conclusions

Despite a positive association with sensitization, cat ownership in this inner-city cohort was inversely associated with wheeze, potentially suggesting an IgE-independent protective mechanism in this community.

Section snippets

Study cohort

As part of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health program, nonsmoking pregnant African American or Dominican women between the ages 18 and 35 years who were living in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx were enrolled, as described previously.18, 19, 20, 21 Exclusion criteria included a diagnosis of diabetes or HIV infection, reported illicit drug use, and residency in NYC for less than 1 year before pregnancy. Between the years 1998 and 2006, 2844 mothers were screened

Study population

Cat ownership was approximately 10% in the cohort at any one age; however, 25% of the children lived with a cat at some time before age 5 years (Table I). Very few of the participants reported owning multiple pets (0.5%-1.6% at any time point). Approximately 8% of the mothers reported not being able to afford their gas or electricity bill in the past 6 months. Among these mothers, the prevalence of cat ownership (3.1%) was lower compared with that of mothers who could afford gas or electricity

Discussion

In this inner-city cohort cat ownership was positively associated with the development of anti-cat IgE antibodies by age 2 years. In addition, sensitization to cat was positively associated with current wheeze and rhinitis at ages 3 and 5 years. However, cat ownership was associated with protection against current wheeze and rhinitis at age 5 years. These findings, which contrast observations in suburban and rural cohorts, suggest that the natural history and clinical significance of

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    • Cited by (0)

    Supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (grants R03ES013308, P01 ES09600, 5 RO1 ES08977, and P30 ES009089), the US Environmental Protection Agency (grants R827027 and RD-832141), the Irving General Clinical Research Center (grant RR00645), the Bauman Family Foundation, the Gladys and Roland Harriman Foundation, the New York Community Trust, the Educational Foundation of America, the New York Times Company Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the John Merck Fund, the Johnson Family Foundation, the Marisla Foundation, and Trustees of the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund.

    Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: M. S. Perzanowski has received research support from the National Institutes of Health. G. L. Chew has received research support from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. I. F. Goldstein has received research support from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. T. A. E. Platts-Mills has served on the advisory board for Indoor Biotechnologies and has received research support from Phadia and the National Institutes of Health. R. L. Miller has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Sandler Program for Asthma Research and has served as a member of the American Thoracic Society. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

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