Serum IgE specific to egg white and its components and open baked eggoral food challenge tests in children younger than 6 years

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#Sixty to eighty percent of children with egg allergy are able to tolerate eggs in baked form. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness and diagnostic value of measurements of IgE specific to egg white, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid for reactivity to baked egg in children with sensitivity to egg. @*Methods@#Two hundred seventeen children with suspected egg allergy underwent open food challenges with baked egg (in the form of muffins). The outcomes of the challenges were compared to the serum concentrations of IgE specific to egg white, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid by using ImmunoCAP. @*Results@#There were no statistically significant differences in levels of IgE specific to egg white, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid between the baked egg challenge positive and negative groups younger than 2 years (n = 163). However, significant differences were observed between the challenge positive and negative groups in 54 subjects aged 2 to 5 years (all P < 0.05). The optimal cutoff points of egg white, ovalbumin, and ovomucoid specific IgE levels among children aged 2 to 5 years were 12.40 kU A/L (sensitivity 79%, specificity 66%), 4.07 kU A/L (sensitivity 88%, specificity 58%), and 3.65 kU A/L (sensitivity 77%, specificity 62%), respectively. @*Conclusion@#The level of IgE specific to egg white and its components can predict the reactivity to baked egg in children aged 2 to 5years.