title: Peripheral blood eosinophils and IL-4 in infancy in relation to the appearance of allergic disease during the first 6 years of life.
abstract: Eosinophils in peripheral blood and serum levels of interleukin (IL)-4 were analysed at 3 and 18 months and at 6 years in a prospective study comprising 67 children, of whom the majority had atopic heredity. The children were monitored from birth up to 6 years of age and the findings were related to family history of allergy and development of allergic disease. Twenty-nine children (43%) of the original group of 67 children were diagnosed as allergic at the age of six. Fifteen of 23 children with eosinophilia (>4 x 10(8) eosinophils/l) at 3 months of age were regarded as allergic at 6 years, when compared with 12 out of 38 children with normal eosinophil counts at 3 months (chi2 = 6.7, p < 0.01). Children with detectable IL-4 in serum at 18 months were more often allergic at 6 years, when compared with those children with no detectable IL-4 (chi2 = 8.6, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the allergic children had a mean IL-4 value of 0.35 microg/l (95% CI: 0.10-1.48) at 18 months, when compared with 0.17 microg/l (95% CI: 0.10-0.72, p < 0.001) in the non-allergic children. At 6 years of age, only nine children had detectable levels of IL-4 and five of them were classified as allergic. Eosinophilia at this age was also associated with allergic disease. We conclude that eosinophilia during infancy and increased levels of IL-4 at 18 month of age are associated with allergic disease during the first 6 years of life. This might indicate that the first 2 years of life are particularly important for the development of allergy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University and Pharmacia Diagnostics, Uppsala, Sweden. magnus.borres@pharmacia.com
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Borres
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Björkstén
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003231:Conjunctivitis / Q000276:immunology; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000276:immunology; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000276:immunology; D014581:Urticaria / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4