Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep 30;16(10):100820.
doi: 10.1016/j.waojou.2023.100820. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Revealing clinically relevant specific IgE sensitization patterns in Hymenoptera venom allergy with dimension reduction and clustering

Robert Kaczmarczyk  1 , Tobias Lasser  2 , Tilo Biedermann  1 , Johannes Ring  1 , Alexander Zink  1   3
Affiliations

Revealing clinically relevant specific IgE sensitization patterns in Hymenoptera venom allergy with dimension reduction and clustering

Robert Kaczmarczyk et al. World Allergy Organ J. .

Abstract

Background: Immunoglobulin E (IgE) blood tests are used to detect sensitizations and potential allergies. Recent studies suggest that specific IgE sensitization patterns due to molecular interactions affect an individual's risk of developing allergic symptoms.

Objective: The aim of this study was to reveal specific IgE sensitization patterns and investigate their clinical implications in Hymenoptera venom allergy.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 257 hunters or fishers with self-filled surveys on previous Hymenoptera stings were analyzed. Blood samples were taken to determine Hymenoptera IgE sensitization levels. Using dimensionality reduction and clustering, specific IgE for 10 Hymenoptera venom allergens were evaluated for clinical relevance.

Results: Three clusters were unmasked using novel dimensionality reduction and clustering methods solely based on specific IgE levels to Hymenoptera venom allergens. These clusters show different characteristics regarding previous systemic reactions to Hymenoptera stings.

Conclusion: Our study was able to unmask non-linear sensitization patterns for specific IgE tests in Hymenoptera venom allergy. We were able to derive risk clusters for anaphylactic reactions following hymenoptera stings and pinpoint relevant allergens (rApi m 10, rVes v 1, whole bee, and wasp venom) for clustering.

Keywords: Cohort-study; Hymenoptera venom allergy; Risk assessment; Specific IgE.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

AZ has received speaker's honoraris from Alk-Abelló and unrestricted research grants from Alk-Abelló and Phadia-Thermo Fisher. TB gave advice to or got an honorarium for talks or research grant from the following companies: AbbVie, Alk-Abelló, Celgene-BMS, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Mylan, Novartis, Phadia-Thermo Fisher, Sanofi-Genzyme, Regeneron, Viatris. JR gave advice to or got an honorarium for talks or research grant from the following companies: AbbVie, Allergika, Leo, L'oreal, Alk-Abelló and Mylan-Viatris. All other authors have no conflict of interest within the scope of the submitted work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Dimension reduction and clustering algorithm. A step-by-step study protocol for clustering higher dimensional data after applying dimensionality reduction
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Cluster analysis through specific IgE sensitization patterns to Hymenoptera venom allergens (n = 257). Mean specific IgE values with 95% confidence intervals for the different Hymenoptera venom allergens in the three different clusters in the hunter/fisher group (A). Two unclustered subjects were omitted. Clustering parameters were chosen with the help of the cluster hierarchy dendrogram (B). The lower dimensional representations, also called embeddings, are visualized and color-coded by associated cluster (C), a subject's previous systemic reaction, (D) and a subject's previous moderate to severe systemic reaction following Hymenoptera stings (E)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Cluster analysis through specific IgE sensitization patterns to Hymenoptera venom allergens (n = 257). Mean specific IgE values with 95% confidence intervals for the different Hymenoptera venom allergens in the three different clusters in the hunter/fisher group. Only both whole venom extracts honey bee (i 1), wasp (i 3), and the recombinants rVes v 1 and rApi m 10 (circled) were used in the dimension reduction and clustering analysis (A). Clustering parameters were chosen with the help of the cluster hierarchy dendrogram (B). The lower dimensional representations, also called embeddings, are visualized and color-coded by associated cluster (C), a subject's previous systemic reaction, (D) and a subject's previous moderate to severe systemic reaction following Hymenoptera stings (E)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Blomme K., Tomassen P., Lapeere H., et al. Prevalence of allergic sensitization versus allergic rhinitis symptoms in an unselected population. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2013;160(2):200–207. doi: 10.1159/000339853. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sánchez-Borges M., Martin B.L., Muraro A.M., et al. The importance of allergic disease in public health: an iCAALL statement. World Allergy Organ J. 2018;11(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s40413-018-0187-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Warren C.M., Jiang J., Gupta R.S. Epidemiology and burden of food allergy. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2020;20(2):6. doi: 10.1007/s11882-020-0898-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Asher M.I., Montefort S., Björkstén B., et al. Worldwide time trends in the prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema in childhood: ISAAC Phases One and Three repeat multicountry cross-sectional surveys. Lancet. 2006;368(9537):733–743. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69283-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Prescott S.L., Pawankar R., Allen K.J., et al. A global survey of changing patterns of food allergy burden in children. World Allergy Organ J. 2013;6:21. doi: 10.1186/1939-4551-6-21. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources