Cord blood allergen-specific IgE is associated with reduced IFN-γ production by cord blood cells: The Protection against Allergy—Study in Rural Environments (PASTURE) study

Intrauterine sensitization of allergen-specific IgE analyzed by a highly sensitive new allergen microarray

“…The measurement of the total IgE level in CB is not recommended for allergy risk screening. 6 Furthermore, CB sampling by means of needle puncture of the umbilical vein is essential to avoid MB contamination. To deal with these problems, we collected CB by needle puncture of the umbilical vein and analyzed allergen-specific IgE and other immunoglobulins both in CB/NB and MB by using the newly developed highly sensitive allergen diagnosis DLC chip.…”

“…The UniCAP system has a limit of 0.35 IU/mL for IgE detection. 6,16 The detection limits for allergen-specific IgA, IgG, and IgG 4 were 0.25 BUa, 2.50 BUg, and 0.53 BUg4, respectively.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] The latter conclusion is supported by the detection of allergen-specific IgE 6,7 and allergen-specific T-cell memory [8][9][10] in CB and suggests that primary sensitization can occur transplacentally in utero. However, the timing of allergen sensitization is still controversial, with conflicting evidence suggesting transplacental priming 6 versus postnatal priming.…”

The Role of Microbes in Developmental Immunologic Programming

“…However, the clinical relevance of cord blood IgE has been called into question as it does not seem to consistently correlate with or predict the development of disease (32). Others have shown that cord blood allergen-specific IgE is not of fetal origin but rather due to maternal contamination likely at the time of delivery (33), although one recent study claims to have controlled for maternal contamination (34). More support for fetal immune priming comes from studies showing allergen induced T-cell reactivity in cord blood (35,36), whereas other studies show a lack of a quantitative relationship between maternal allergen exposure and T-cell responses in their newborn offspring (37).…”

Immunological interactions between mother and child during pregnancy in relation to the development of allergic diseases in the offspring

“…Allergen-specific IgE antibodies to food and inhalant allergens have been detected in CB indicating that the neonate is capable of producing IgE antibodies before birth [178,179]. IgE antibodies are not believed to be transported across the placenta [180], but there might be an uncertainty regarding contamination of CB with maternal IgE [181].…”