Associations Between Metal Levels in Whole Blood and IgE Concentrations in Pregnant Women Based on Data From the Japan Environment and Children's Study

• Published in: Journal of epidemiology Vol. 29; no. 12; pp. 478 - 486
• Main Authors: Tsuji, Mayumi, Koriyama, Chihaya, Ishihara, Yasuhiro, Yamamoto, Megumi, Yamamoto-Hanada, Kiwako, Kanatani, Kumiko, Bamai, Yu Ait, Onishi, Kazunari, Senju, Ayako, Araki, Shunsuke, Shibata, Eiji, Morokuma, Seiichi, Sanefuji, Masafumi, Kitazawa, Hiroshi, Saito, Mayako, Umezawa, Masakazu, Onoda, Atsuto, Kusuhara, Koichi, Tanaka, Rie, Kawamoto, Toshihiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Japan Epidemiological Association 05.12.2019
• Subjects: Adult; Allergens; Allergic diseases; allergic sensitization; Allergies; Blood; Cadmium; Cedar; Children; Dander; Exposure; Female; House dust; Humans; Hypersensitivity; Immunoglobulin E; Immunoglobulin E - blood; Japan; Lead; Manganese; Maternal and Child Health; maternal health; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Metal concentrations; Metals; Metals - blood; Original; Pollen; Pregnancy; pregnant women; Quartiles; Regression analysis; Selenium; specific ige; Japan; maternal health; pregnant women; metal concentrations; specific IgE; allergic sensitization
• ISSN: 0917-5040; 1349-9092
• DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20180098

Metal exposures could possibly affect allergic responses in pregnant women, although no studies have yet shown a clear relationship between the two, and such exposures might also affect the development of allergic diseases in children. We investigated the relationship between metal concentrations in whole blood and immunoglobulin E (IgE; total and specific) in 14,408 pregnant women who participated in the Japan Environment and Children's Study. The subjects submitted self-administered questionnaires, and blood samples were collected from them twice, specifically, during the first trimester and again during the second/third trimester. Concentrations of the metals Cd, Pb, Hg, Se, and Mn, as well as serum total and allergen-specific IgEs for egg white, house dust-mites (HDM), Japanese cedar pollen (JCP), animal dander, and moth, were measured. Allergen-specific IgE(s) were divided based on concentrations <0.35 or ≥0.35 UA/mL, and the metal levels were divided into quartiles. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significant negative correlation between HDM- and animal dander-specific IgEs and Hg and Mn concentrations. Conversely, there was a significant positive relationship between JCP-specific IgE and Hg and Se concentrations. Metal exposures may be related to both increases and decreases in allergen-specific IgEs in pregnant women.