Volume 121, Issue 4 , Pages 1047-1052, April 2008
Cat ownership is a risk factor for the development of anti-cat IgE but not current wheeze at age 5 years in an inner-city cohort
Background
Cat ownership is inversely associated with atopy and asthma in some areas of the world, but the relevance of cat ownership to allergic disease in the inner city is less known.
Objective
We sought to evaluate the relationship between cat ownership and the development of early sensitization and wheeze.
Methods
By using a prospective birth cohort study, Dominican and African American mothers living in New York City underwent repeated questionnaires about their child from birth to age 5 years. Sera collected from children at ages 2 (n = 323), 3 (n = 336), and 5 (n = 242) years were assayed for anti-cat IgE and anti–Fel d 1 IgG antibodies.
Results
Cat ownership was a significant risk factor for the development of anti-cat IgE by age 2 years (risk ratio [RR], 6.4; 95% CI, 1.9-22) but not for anti-cat IgE development between the ages of 2 and 5 years (RR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.24-2.3). Current wheeze was significantly more common among those children with anti-cat IgE at ages 3 (RR, 3.5; 95% CI, 2.1-6.0) and 5 (RR, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.3-4.9) years. Cat ownership was inversely associated with current wheeze at age 5 years among children without anti-cat IgE (RR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.083-0.81). Among children with anti-cat IgE, a similar trend was observed (RR, 0.57; P = .044, Fisher exact test), although one with borderline statistical significance.
Conclusions
Despite a positive association with sensitization, cat ownership in this inner-city cohort was inversely associated with wheeze, potentially suggesting an IgE-independent protective mechanism in this community.
Key words: Cat, asthma, allergy, wheeze, inner-city, rhinitis, IgE, IgG, Fel d 1
Abbreviations used: ETS, Environmental tobacco smoke, NYC, New York City, OR, Odds ratio, RR, Risk ratio
Supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (grants R03ES013308, P01 ES09600, 5 RO1 ES08977, and P30 ES009089), the US Environmental Protection Agency (grants R827027 and RD-832141), the Irving General Clinical Research Center (grant RR00645), the Bauman Family Foundation, the Gladys and Roland Harriman Foundation, the New York Community Trust, the Educational Foundation of America, the New York Times Company Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the John Merck Fund, the Johnson Family Foundation, the Marisla Foundation, and Trustees of the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund.
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: M. S. Perzanowski has received research support from the National Institutes of Health. G. L. Chew has received research support from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences. I. F. Goldstein has received research support from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. T. A. E. Platts-Mills has served on the advisory board for Indoor Biotechnologies and has received research support from Phadia and the National Institutes of Health. R. L. Miller has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Sandler Program for Asthma Research and has served as a member of the American Thoracic Society. The rest of the authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.
PII: S0091-6749(08)00352-7
doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2008.02.005
© 2008 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Volume 121, Issue 4 , Pages 1047-1052, April 2008
