Anti-Anisakis antibodies in human umbilical cord blood

Abstract

Introduction: Little is known about the influence of seroreactivity to fish nematode antigens on the unborn child. Aim: The objective of this study was to ascertain whether infants born to women with Anisakis spp. seroreactivity had problems with growth at birth, or during neonatal care. Methods: We conducted a retrospective database search of puerperal women interviewed at two perinatal facilities in Niterói, Brazil. Neonates were selected by the presence of anti-Anisakis IgG antibodies in cord blood and categorised, by analysis of maternal blood results, as reactive or nonreactive. The Mann–Whitney U test was used for hypothesis testing in continuous variables. A generalised linear model was used for binary logistic regression. Results: Of the 147 neonates studied, 121 were labelled as nonreactive and 26, as reactive. There were no significant betweengroup differences in maternal age (p = 0.193), number of prenatal visits (p = 0.362), presence of prenatal conditions (p = 0.980), mode of delivery (p = 0.193), gestational age (p = 0.266), birth weight (p = 0.294), need for resuscitation (p = 0.675), development of conditions during hospital stay (p = 0.201), or length of hospital stay (p = 0.528). There was also no significant association between IgG positivity in cord blood in raw fish intake (p = 1.000) or intake >2 times/week (p = 0.729). Conclusions: The presence of anti-Anisakis IgG in cord blood of infants born to women seroreactive to Anisakis did not pose a hazard to this neonatal population and did not influence growth, conditions at birth, or development of any clinical conditions before hospital discharge.

Keywords

• Anisakis spp.
• cord blood
• ELISA
• fish
• newborn