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
. 2024 Mar;35(3):e14112.
doi: 10.1111/pai.14112.

COBRAPed cohort: Do sensitization patterns differentiate children with severe asthma from those with a milder disease?

Collaborators, Affiliations

COBRAPed cohort: Do sensitization patterns differentiate children with severe asthma from those with a milder disease?

Stéphanie Lejeune et al. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Background: It is unclear whether sensitization patterns differentiate children with severe recurrent wheeze (SRW)/severe asthma (SA) from those with non-severe recurrent wheeze (NSRW)/non-severe asthma (NSA). Our objective was to determine whether sensitization patterns can discriminate between children from the French COBRAPed cohort with NSRW/NSA and those with SRW/SA.

Methods: IgE to 112 components (c-sIgE) (ImmunoCAP® ISAC) were analyzed in 125 preschools (3-6 years) and 170 school-age children (7-12 years). Supervised analyses and clustering methods were applied to identify patterns of sensitization among children with positive c-sIgE.

Results: We observed c-sIgE sensitization in 51% of preschool and 75% of school-age children. Sensitization to house dust mite (HDM) components was more frequent among NSRW than SRW (53% vs. 24%, p < .01). Sensitization to non-specific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP) components was more frequent among SA than NSA (16% vs. 4%, p < .01) and associated with an FEV1/FVC < -1.64 z-score. Among sensitized children, seven clusters with varying patterns were identified. The two broader clusters identified in each age group were characterized by "few sensitizations, mainly to HDM." One cluster (n = 4) with "multiple sensitizations, mainly to grass pollen, HDM, PR-10, and nsLTP" was associated with SA in school-age children.

Conclusions: Although children with wheeze/asthma display frequent occurrences and high levels of sensitization, sensitization patterns did not provide strong signals to discriminate children with severe disease from those with milder disease. These results suggest that the severity of wheeze/asthma may depend on both IgE- and non-IgE-mediated mechanisms.

Keywords: asthma; preschool; school‐age; sensitization; severe asthma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

REFERENCES

    1. Lang A, Carlsen KH, Haaland G, et al. Severe asthma in childhood: assessed in 10 year olds in a birth cohort study. Allergy. 2008;63:1054‐1060.
    1. Chung KF, Wenzel SE, Brozek JL, et al. International ERS/ATS guidelines on definition, evaluation and treatment of severe asthma. Eur Respir J. 2014;43:343‐373.
    1. Fitzpatrick AM, Teague WG, Meyers DA, et al. Heterogeneity of severe asthma in childhood: confirmation by cluster analysis of children in the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute severe asthma research program. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011;127:382‐389.e1‐13.
    1. Just J, Bourgoin‐Heck M, Amat F. Clinical phenotypes in asthma during childhood. Clin Exp Allergy. 2017;47:848‐855.
    1. Custovic A, Sonntag H‐J, Buchan IE, Belgrave D, Simpson A, Prosperi MCF. Evolution pathways of IgE responses to grass and mite allergens throughout childhood. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015;136:1645‐1652.e8.