Aims: To assess distribution and correlation between serum concentrations of specific IgE for food allergens and clinical symptoms after exposure.
Patients and methods: Four hundred and thirty seven allergic children with 1097 sensitizations to food allergens, confirmed by prick-test and/or Phadezym RAST, were evaluated. From these sensitizations, 558 were associated to clinical symptoms after food intake (SFS), demonstrated by clinical history and/or open oral provocation, and 539 were asymptomatic food sensitizations (AFS).
Results: In these patients, the most frequent values of serum specific IgE (44%) were found in the 0.7 and 3.5 PRU/ml range, although in 18% of the cases no specific IgE was detected. Some differences in this distribution exist for different groups of food allergen, with predominance of negative results for food of the rosaceae group. On the contrary, specific IgE values higher than 17.5 PRU/ml are predominant for fish allergens. There is a statistically significant correlation (chi 2 p < 0.001) between anti-food allergen specific IgE concentrations and the clinical symptoms occurred after intake, so the serum specific IgE values between 0.35 and 3.5 PRU/ml are present with higher frequency in the AFS, while values higher than 17.5 PRU/ml are found with a statistically significant higher frequency in the SFS. When different food groups are evaluated separately, some mild differences exist.
Conclusions: A statistically significant correlation between anti-food allergen specific IgE concentrations and the clinical symptoms ocurred after intake. Therefore, specific IgE quantitative assessment and its relationship to clinical symptoms may be of great interest in the management of food allergy.