John James Medical Centre, Deakin, ACT, Australia.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2011 Sep;22(6):583-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2011.01151.x. Epub 2011 Feb 22.
Recent studies suggest a possible role for low ultraviolet radiation exposure and low vitamin D status as a risk factor for food allergy. We hypothesized that children born in autumn/winter months (less sun exposure) might have higher food allergy rates than those born in spring/summer.
We compared IgE-mediated food allergy rates by season of birth in 835 children aged 0-4 yr assessed 1995-2009 in a specialist referral clinic, using population births as controls. To address potential concerns about generalizability, we also examined national prescriptions for adrenaline autoinjectors (2007) and infant hypoallergenic formula (2006-2007).
Although live births in the general ACT population showed no seasonal pattern (50% autumn/winter vs. 50% spring/summer), autumn/winter births were more common than spring/summer births among food allergy patients (57% vs. 43%; p < 0.001). The same seasonal pattern was observed with peanut (60% vs. 40%; p < 0.001) and egg (58% vs. 42%; p = 0.003). Regional UVR intensity was correlated with relative rate of overall food allergy (β, -1.83; p = 0.05) and peanut allergy (β, -3.27; p = 0.01). National data showed that autumn/winter births also were more common among children prescribed EpiPens (54% vs. 46%; p < 0.001) and infant hypoallergenic formula (54% vs. 46%; p < 0.001).
The significantly higher rates of food allergy in children born autumn/winter (compared to spring/summer), the relationship between relative food allergy rates and monthly UVR, combined with national adrenaline autoinjector and infant hypoallergenic formula prescription data, suggest that ultraviolet light exposure/vitamin D status may be one of many potential factors contributing to childhood food allergy pathogenesis.
最近的研究表明，紫外线辐射暴露和维生素 D 水平较低可能是食物过敏的风险因素。我们假设在秋季/冬季（较少阳光照射）出生的儿童可能比在春季/夏季出生的儿童有更高的食物过敏率。
我们比较了在一个专科诊所评估的 835 名 0-4 岁儿童的 IgE 介导的食物过敏率，按出生季节进行分组，以人群出生为对照。为了解决普遍性的问题，我们还检查了 2007 年肾上腺素自动注射器和 2006-2007 年婴儿低敏配方的全国处方。
尽管 ACT 人群的活产儿没有季节性模式（50%为秋季/冬季，50%为春季/夏季），但食物过敏患者的秋季/冬季出生比春季/夏季出生更为常见（57%比 43%；p < 0.001）。花生（60%比 40%；p < 0.001）和鸡蛋（58%比 42%；p = 0.003）也观察到了同样的季节性模式。区域 UVR 强度与总体食物过敏的相对发生率（β，-1.83；p = 0.05）和花生过敏（β，-3.27；p = 0.01）相关。全国数据显示，肾上腺素自动注射器和婴儿低敏配方的处方中，秋季/冬季出生的儿童也更为常见（54%比 46%；p < 0.001）。
出生在秋季/冬季（与春季/夏季相比）的儿童食物过敏率明显较高，相对食物过敏率与每月 UVR 之间的关系，再加上全国肾上腺素自动注射器和婴儿低敏配方的处方数据，表明紫外线暴露/维生素 D 状态可能是导致儿童食物过敏发病机制的众多潜在因素之一。
