A prospective study of Fel d1 and Der p1 exposure in infancy and childhood wheezing

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004 Aug 1;170(3):273-8. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200310-1348OC. Epub 2004 Apr 29.

Abstract

The impact of domestic exposure to cat allergen (Fel d1) and house dust mite (Der p1) on wheezing from birth to the age of 4 years was investigated in a multicenter prospective birth cohort; 1,611 mothers were recruited before delivery in Ashford, England, and Barcelona and Menorca, Spain. Exposures were gathered via dust sample collection at children's home in their first year of life. Families provided complete outcome data (wheezing status in all 4 years) for 1,289 children. Domestic allergen levels varied substantially between centers. Six hundred three (47%) children never wheezed during their first 4 years of life. Der p1 did not correlate with any type of wheezing outcome. Fel d1 significantly increased the risk of wheezing in 3- and 4-year-olds in comparison to 1-year-olds. Distinct risk profiles were found for wheezing at different ages. Multivariate analysis revealed an interaction between Fel d1 and maternal asthma among children who wheeze in Year 4 (relative risk = 2.77; 95% confidence interval = 1.19-6.46). Our data support the idea that several patterns of wheezing with different risk profiles exist among young children. The effect of Fel d1 exposure varied according to age and maternal asthma.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Antigens, Dermatophagoides / analysis*
  • Arthropod Proteins
  • Breast Feeding / statistics & numerical data
  • Cats
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • Comorbidity
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases
  • England / epidemiology
  • Environmental Exposure / analysis*
  • Female
  • Glycoproteins / analysis*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
  • Prospective Studies
  • Reference Values
  • Respiratory Hypersensitivity / drug therapy
  • Respiratory Hypersensitivity / epidemiology*
  • Respiratory Hypersensitivity / immunology*
  • Respiratory Sounds*
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / epidemiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Distribution
  • Smoking / epidemiology
  • Spain / epidemiology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Antigens, Dermatophagoides
  • Arthropod Proteins
  • Glycoproteins
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases
  • Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus antigen p 1
  • Fel d 1 protein, Felis domesticus