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Posted by maeve
- April 24, 2013, 02:22:19 PMQuote from: Macabre on April 24, 2013, 01:27:55 PM
Yeah, I was wondering about that--such a small sample. But I do think it's a helpful study in showing why a house of a person allergic to peanuts may need to be peanut free.
Of course, they didn't say it was the only way to sensitize.
Well, I suppose it would if that person had a habit of putting their hands in their mouth. It seems to me the study looked at the exposure mechanism in the same way lead exposure mechanisms are looked at. Lead dust on crib rails are a serious exposure vector because babies are likely to gum those rails (I had a friend whose child gnawed them to the bare wood).
I think for an older child or adult exposure through dust may be less of an issue. The fact is, we likely all bring in small amounts of it on our clothes and shoes into our homes everyday.
The more obvious means of exposure will be the reason I maintain a nut free home. As CM pointed out, the study shows a correlation in a small sample but it does not prove causation.
Posted by Macabre
- April 24, 2013, 01:27:55 PMYeah, I was wondering about that--such a small sample. But I do think it's a helpful study in showing why a house of a person allergic to peanuts may need to be peanut free.
Of course, they didn't say it was the only way to sensitize.
Of course, they didn't say it was the only way to sensitize.
Posted by CMdeux
- April 24, 2013, 01:13:27 PMWe have shown that an infant's environmental exposure to peanut is most likely to be due to HPC.
Huh. Well, sorry, but with an N of 45, I'm pretty sure that they have NOT conclusively demonstrated that, in point of fact...
and it seriously sounds like yet another way to "blame" families for their kids' allergies. I disagree with "most likely" there. That's still a huge unknown, even though this study demonstrates that such exposure can RESULT in sensitization, and that avoidance of that type of exposure reduces sensitization in a population sense. That is way different than saying it is so for a particular individual. HMPH.
I don't think we HAD any peanuts in our house during the 24 month period covering my pregnancy and my DD's first year of life. Certainly her daycare environment didn't in the room she was in.
So how did MY child get sensitized, hmmm?
Huh. Well, sorry, but with an N of 45, I'm pretty sure that they have NOT conclusively demonstrated that, in point of fact...
and it seriously sounds like yet another way to "blame" families for their kids' allergies. I disagree with "most likely" there. That's still a huge unknown, even though this study demonstrates that such exposure can RESULT in sensitization, and that avoidance of that type of exposure reduces sensitization in a population sense. That is way different than saying it is so for a particular individual. HMPH.
I don't think we HAD any peanuts in our house during the 24 month period covering my pregnancy and my DD's first year of life. Certainly her daycare environment didn't in the room she was in.
So how did MY child get sensitized, hmmm?
Posted by Macabre
- April 24, 2013, 12:54:01 PMncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23608730
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013 Apr 19. pii: S0091-6749(13)00365-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.02.034. [Epub ahead of print]
Peanut protein in household dust is related to household peanut consumption and is biologically active.
Brough HA, Santos AF, Makinson K, Penagos M, Stephens AC, Douiri A, Fox AT, Du Toit G, Turcanu V, Lack G.
Source
Department of Paediatric Allergy, MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom; Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Peanut allergy is an important public health concern. To understand the pathogenesis of peanut allergy, we need to determine the route by which children become sensitized. A dose-response between household peanut consumption (HPC; used as an indirect marker of environmental peanut exposure) and the development of peanut allergy has been observed; however, environmental peanut exposure was not directly quantified.
OBJECTIVE:
We sought to explore the relationship between reported HPC and peanut protein levels in an infant's home environment and to determine the biological activity of environmental peanut.
METHODS:
Peanut protein was quantified in wipe and dust samples collected from 45 homes with infants by using a polyclonal peanut ELISA. Environmental peanut protein levels were compared with peanut consumption assessed by using a validated peanut food frequency questionnaire and other clinical and household factors. Biological activity of peanut protein in dust was assessed with a basophil activation assay.
RESULTS:
There was a positive correlation between peanut protein levels in the infant's bed, crib rail, and play area and reported HPC over 1 and 6 months. On multivariate regression analysis, HPC was the most important variable associated with peanut protein levels in the infant's bed sheet and play area. Dust samples containing high peanut protein levels induced dose-dependent activation of basophils in children with peanut allergy.
CONCLUSIONS:
We have shown that an infant's environmental exposure to peanut is most likely to be due to HPC. Peanut protein in dust is biologically active and should be assessed as a route of possible early peanut sensitization in infants.
Copyright © 2013 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.
PMID: 23608730 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]