Development of atopic sensitization in Finnish and Estonian children: A latent class analysis in a multicenter cohort

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of atopy is associated with a Western lifestyle, as shown by studies comparing neighboring regions with different socioeconomic backgrounds. Atopy might reflect various conditions differing in their susceptibility to environmental factors.

Objective: We sought to define phenotypes of atopic sensitization in early childhood and examine their association with allergic diseases and hereditary background in Finland and Estonia.

Methods: The analysis included 1603 Finnish and 1657 Estonian children from the DIABIMMUNE multicenter young children cohort. Specific IgE levels were measured at age 3, 4, and 5 years, respectively, and categorized into 3 CAP classes. Latent class analysis was performed with the statistical software package poLCA in R software.

Results: Both populations differed in terms of socioeconomic status and environmental determinants, such as pet ownership, farm-related exposure, time spent playing outdoors, and prevalence of allergic diseases (all P < .001). Nevertheless, we found similar latent classes in both populations: an unsensitized class, a food class, 2 inhalant classes differentiating between seasonal and perennial aeroallergens, and a severe atopy class. The latter was characterized by high total and specific IgE levels and strongly associated with wheeze (odds ratio [OR], 5.64 [95% CI, 3.07-10.52] and 4.56 [95% CI, 2.35-8.52]), allergic rhinitis (OR, 22.4 [95% CI, 11.67-44.54] and 13.97 [95% CI, 7.33-26.4]), and atopic eczema (OR, 9.39 [95% CI, 4.9-19.3] and 9.5 [95% CI, 5.2-17.5] for Finland and Estonia, respectively). Environmental differences were reflected in the larger seasonal inhalant atopy class in Finland, although composition of classes was comparable between countries.

Conclusion: Despite profound differences in environmental exposures, there might exist genuine patterns of atopic sensitization. The distribution of these patterns might determine the contribution of atopic sensitization to disease onset.

Keywords: Estonia; Finland; IgE; Latent class analysis; allergy; atopy; diabetes type 1 risk; severe atopy; unsupervised clustering; wheezing.