Prevalence of food allergy after liver transplant
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 08:39
Food allergy has been increasingly reported in children who have undergone liver transplantation. A prospective study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for food allergy in a group of 28 liver transplant patients with a mean age of 5 years. While there appeared to be no significant difference in the patients with regard to total eosinophil count, total IgE, and specific IgEs prior to transplant, six patients (21%) developed multiple food allergies following transplant.
In 5 of the 6 cases, the allergies had developed within one year of transplant. The mean age at transplant (10 months) of those who developed food allergy was found to be younger than those who did not develop food allergies (~6years). All six patients developed cow's milk and egg allergy after transplantation. In addition to these allergies, five children developed wheat allergy, one child developed lentil allergy and another developed peach allergy. Four of the six allergic children developed Epstein-Barr virus infection prior to food allergy, and the authors suggest this may be a risk factor for the development of food allergy following liver transplantation.
Reference: Ozbek et al. 2009. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Vol 20(8) pp. 741-747.
