Researchers of a new study found that children who outgrow a certain type of food allergy are at a higher risk of developing a more serious type known as eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an allergic inflammatory disease characterized by elevated eosinophils in the esophagus. It is a newly recognized type of allergy that over the past decade has been increasingly diagnosed in children and adults in the United States.
IgE-mediated food allergy is another common type of allergy which occurs when antibodies mount an exaggerated immune response against proteins in particular foods. For the study, researchers compared the two types of allergies. They analyzed 1,375 patients that were treated for EoE between 2000 and 2012. Researchers identified food items like milk, egg, soy and wheat as being the cause of allergy for 425 patients. Among these patients, 17 patients had developed EoE after having outgrown IgE-mediated allergy to a specific food.
"The pattern we found in those 17 patients suggests that the two types of food allergy have distinct pathophysiologies -- they operate by different mechanisms and cause different functional changes," said pediatric allergist Jonathan M. Spergel of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in a press statement. "However, this pattern also raises the possibility that prior IgE-mediated food allergy may predispose a patient to developing EoE to the same food."
Spergel and his team also found that approximately 10 percent of patients who undergo desensitization therapy to deal with IgE-mediated food allergies are likely to develop an EoE allergy to the same food.
The team of researchers recommends that health care providers and pediatricians should carefully monitor children with food allergies to recognize early signs of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).
This allergy may cause weight loss, vomiting, heartburn and swallowing difficulties. It can affect any age group, but is often first discovered in children experiencing feeding difficulties and failure to thrive. The condition can also be painful at times.
According to a Mayo Clinic report, EoE is no longer rare in the United States. It has an annual incidence similar to that of Crohn disease, which is approximately 13 people among every 10,000.
The study was funded by the Joint Center for Gastroenterology and Nutrition of CHOP-HUP and the CHOP Food Allergy Family Research Fund.
