Journal of Epidemiology (Dec 2019)

Associations Between Metal Levels in Whole Blood and IgE Concentrations in Pregnant Women Based on Data From the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

  • Mayumi Tsuji,
  • Chihaya Koriyama,
  • Yasuhiro Ishihara,
  • Megumi Yamamoto,
  • Kiwako Yamamoto-Hanada,
  • Kumiko Kanatani,
  • Yu Ait Bamai,
  • Kazunari Onishi,
  • Ayako Senju,
  • Shunsuke Araki,
  • Eiji Shibata,
  • Seiichi Morokuma,
  • Masafumi Sanefuji,
  • Hiroshi Kitazawa,
  • Mayako Saito,
  • Masakazu Umezawa,
  • Atsuto Onoda,
  • Koichi Kusuhara,
  • Rie Tanaka,
  • Toshihiro Kawamoto,
  • the Japan Environment & Children’s Study Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20180098
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 29, no. 12
pp. 478 – 486

Abstract

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Background: Metal exposures could possibly affect allergic responses in pregnant women, although no studies have yet shown a clear relationship between the two, and such exposures might also affect the development of allergic diseases in children. Methods: We investigated the relationship between metal concentrations in whole blood and immunoglobulin E (IgE; total and specific) in 14,408 pregnant women who participated in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. The subjects submitted self-administered questionnaires, and blood samples were collected from them twice, specifically, during the first trimester and again during the second/third trimester. Concentrations of the metals Cd, Pb, Hg, Se, and Mn, as well as serum total and allergen-specific IgEs for egg white, house dust-mites (HDM), Japanese cedar pollen (JCP), animal dander, and moth, were measured. Allergen-specific IgE(s) were divided based on concentrations <0.35 or ≥0.35 UA/mL, and the metal levels were divided into quartiles. Results: Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significant negative correlation between HDM- and animal dander-specific IgEs and Hg and Mn concentrations. Conversely, there was a significant positive relationship between JCP-specific IgE and Hg and Se concentrations. Conclusions: Metal exposures may be related to both increases and decreases in allergen-specific IgEs in pregnant women.

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