title: Low birth weight and allergy: possible pleiotropic effect of ACP1.
abstract: The well-known relationship between low birth weight and allergies prompted us to investigate a possible pleiotropic effect of ACP1 on these conditions. ACP1 is a polymorphic enzyme that affects signal transduction of insulin and other growth factors, T-cell receptor signaling, and the regulation of flavoenzyme activity. Our aim was to compare the relationship between ACP1 and allergy with the relationship between ACP1 and birth weight. We studied 299 subjects from the Caucasian population of England, 124 subjects from the Caucasian population of central Italy, and 302 healthy puerperae and their newborn babies from the same Caucasian populations. ACP1 phenotype was determined by starch gel electrophoresis on RBC hemolysate and by DNA analysis. Subjects with high ACP1 activity (ACP1 C,B phenotype) show a lower level of IgE compared to subjects with low ACP1 activity (p = 0.01). The proportion of infants with a birth weight below the first quartile is lower among infants born to mothers with high ACP1 activity than among infants born to mothers with medium-low activity (p = 0.01). The data suggest a protective effect of high-activity ACP1 C,B phenotype from low birth weight and from allergic manifestations after birth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biopathology and Imaging Diagnostics, School of Medicine, University of Rome Tor Ver- gata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gloria-Bottini
authors.forename: Nunzio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bottini
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Magrini
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Renzetti
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martinoli
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergamaschi
authors.forename: Egidio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bottini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010641:Phenotype; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; C490429:ACP1 protein, human; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases