title: Intrauterine sensitization of allergen-specific IgE analyzed by a highly sensitive new allergen microarray.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To design a rational allergy prevention program, it is important to determine whether allergic sensitization starts in utero under the maternal immune system.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the origin of allergen-specific IgE antibodies in cord blood (CB) and maternofetal transfer of immunoglobulins.
  
  
  METHODS
  The levels of food and inhalant allergen-specific IgE, IgA, IgG, and IgG(4) antibodies in CB and maternal blood (MB) from 92 paired neonates and mothers were measured by using a novel allergen microarray of diamond-like-carbon-coated chip, with high-sensitivity detection of allergen-specific antibodies and allergen profiles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of allergen-specific IgE antibodies against food and inhalant allergens and allergen profiles were identical in CB and newborn blood, but the levels and profiles, specifically against inhalant allergens, were different from those in MB. The level of allergen-specific IgA antibodies was below the detection levels in CB despite clear detection in MB. Therefore, contamination with MB in CB was excluded on the basis of extremely low levels of IgA antibodies in CB and the obvious mismatch of the allergen-specific IgE and IgA profiles between CB and MB. However, the levels of allergen-specific IgG and IgG(4) antibodies and their allergen profiles were almost identical in both MB and CB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Allergen-specific levels of IgE and IgA antibodies and their allergen profiles analyzed by the diamond-like-carbon allergen chip indicate that IgE antibodies in CB are of fetal origin. Food-allergen specific IgE antibodies were detected more often than inhalant-allergen specific IgE antibodies in CB, the reason of which remains unclarified.
authors.affiliation: Division of Enzyme Chemistry, Institute for Enzyme Research, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kamemura
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimojo
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichioka
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Mineyoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hiyoshi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kido
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000276:immunology*; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007073:Immunoglobulin E