title: Acquired IgE-mediated food allergy after liver transplantation in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years, the number of studies regarding newly-diagnosed food allergies after liver transplantation has been increasing. In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency, aetiology, risk factors, and severity of IgE-mediated food allergies after liver transplantation in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paediatric patients who underwent liver transplantation at Inonu University Faculty of Medicine, Organ Transplantation Institute were included in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-nine paediatric patients were enrolled in the study; 26 (53.1%) were female, the median age at transplantation was five years, and median follow-up time after transplantation was 16 months. Six patients (12.2%) developed IgE-mediated food allergies after transplantation; four had urticaria and/or angio-oedema and two developed anaphylaxis after food intake. Patients with and without IgE-mediated food allergies were similar in terms of sex, age at transplantation, comorbid atopic disease, immunosuppressant therapy with tacrolimus, and blood tacrolimus level (p>0.05 for each). Serum total IgE levels ≥100 IU/mL (p=0.02) and peripheral eosinophilia (p=0.026) were more common in the patients who developed IgE-mediated food allergies. In five of the six patients who developed IgE-mediated food allergies, reaction occurred within the first year after transplantation; the risk of developing a reaction was 2.7 times higher within the first year after transplantation than in subsequent years (95% CI, 1.546-4.914; p=0.026). No Epstein-Barr virus or cytomegalovirus infections were detected in any of the patients who developed IgE-mediated food allergies after liver transplantation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The risk of developing IgE-mediated food allergies is approximately three times higher within the first year after transplantation than in subsequent years.
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Department, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Catal
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Department, Malatya, Turkey. Electronic address: erdemtopal44@gmail.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Topal
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Selimoglu
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karabiber
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Liver Transplant Institute, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baskıran
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Department, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Senbaba
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Varol
authors.affiliation: Inonu University Turgut Ozal Medical Center, Liver Transplant Institute, Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D007073:Immunoglobulin E
keywords: Allergy; Children; Food; IgE-mediated; Liver; Tacrolimus; Transplantation