Abstract:

Objective To explore the clinical significance of detection of 14 kinds of food allergen-specific IgG. Methods Fourteen kinds of food allergen-specific IgG were detected by ELISA method in 211 patients with allergic diseases, and IgG positive rates of various foods were compared among patients with different sex, age and allergic diseases. Results Positive food allergen-specific IgG was detected in 193 (91.4%) patients. Among 14 kinds of foods, the positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG was the highest for eggs (73.9％), and milk came the second. However, no elevated food allergen-specific IgG was observed for chicken and meat. Milk was the most common sensitizers for 0-12 month-old patients, and egg was the first cause for the other age groups. There were significant differences in the positive rates of food allergen-specific IgG for milk among different age groups (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG between males and females (P>0.05). The positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG in patients with eczema was the highest (96.4%), and the lowest (83.3%) was found in those with chronic diarrhea, while there was no significant difference among different diseases (P>0.05). The positive rate of food allergen-specific IgG for milk differed significantly among different diseases (P<0.01). Positive food allergen-specific IgG was detected in 12 kinds of food (except for chicken and meat) for patients with allergic purpura. Conclusion Food intolerance is a complex allergy. The food allergen-specific IgG detection is of great importance as reference for etiologic diagnosis of allergic diseases.

Key words: food intolerance, allergen-specific IgG, allergic disease