Specific IgA and IgE in childhood asthma, eczema and food allergy.

Allergen-specific IgA and IgE antibodies were compared in 250 children with asthma (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, rye grass pollen), in eighty-six children with eczema (whole egg, cow's milk) and in two groups of children with egg and cow's milk allergy. In each of the conditions investigated, food allergy, asthma and eczema increasing atopy was associated with increasing specific IgE levels to relevant allergens. There was no association of high IgE antibody levels with low IgA antibody levels in any of the conditions or allergens studied. There was, however, a tendency for subjects with more severe asthma to have high IgA levels with high IgE levels. IgA deficiency does not appear to be associated with atopic conditions of childhood.