title: Relation of lung function and current inhalant allergen-specific immunoglobulin E concentrations in adolescents (GINIplus cohort).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of allergen sensitization reaches up to 46.6% in 14- to 17-year-old German adolescents. Polysensitization is strongly associated with a higher risk of allergic rhinitis or asthma. Whether or how sensitization also is related to lung function remains uncertain.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether sensitization to common inhalant allergens is associated with lung function in adolescents after stratification by allergic respiratory disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 1,719 15-year-old participants of the German Infant Study on the Influence of Nutrition Intervention plus Air Pollution and Genetics on Allergy Development (GINIplus) birth cohort provided valid spirometric indices, including forced expiratory volume in 1 second, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow rate at 25% to 75% of the FVC, and specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) screening test to 8 inhalant allergens (ImmunoCAP). Complete information on allergic rhinitis and asthma status was available for 1,128 subjects. Associations between lung function parameters and sensitization, classified into 4 groups (no sensitization to polysensitization) were analyzed using adjusted linear regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among participants, 21.1% (n = 347) had allergic rhinitis, 10.1% (n = 119) had asthma, and 46.4% (n = 798) had a positive screening test to inhalant allergens. Prevalences were consistently higher in boys. The percentage of subjects with rhinitis or asthma increased from 5.8% in non-sensitized subjects (n = 620) to 69.4% in polysensitized subjects (n = 144). Sensitization was not associated with any spirometric parameter considered in subjects with allergic rhinitis, asthma, or neither disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although allergen-specific IgE concentrations can contribute to the identification of subjects at higher risk for allergic rhinitis and asthma, sensitization to inhalant allergens is not related to impaired spirometric lung parameters within the different allergic respiratory disease subgroups.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luzak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flexeder
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Marien-Hospital Wesel, Wesel, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Berg
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Marien-Hospital Wesel, Wesel, Germany.
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berdel
authors.affiliation: IUF Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine and Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Klümper
authors.affiliation: Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Carl-Peter
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich (CPC-M), Member of the German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich (CPC-M), Member of the German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany; Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich (CPC-M), Member of the German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: schulz@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D008168:Lung / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008450:Maximal Midexpiratory Flow Rate / Q000502:physiology; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D007073:Immunoglobulin E