Allergy Asthma Respir Dis.  2016 Mar;4(2):119-125. 10.4168/aard.2016.4.2.119.

Usefulness of specific IgE antibody levels to wheat, gluten, and ω-5 gliadin for wheat allergy in Korean children

• Yoon J
• Jeong K
• Lee S

• KMID: 2361284
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aard.2016.4.2.119

Abstract

PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to assess the clinical usefulness and added diagnostic value of specific IgE antibodies to wheat, gluten, and ω-5 gliadin in diagnosing wheat allergy and distinguishing wheat anaphylaxis.
METHODS
This study included 196 children who visited Ajou University Hospital for suspicious food allergy. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: the wheat allergy (WA) and non-wheat allergy (non-WA) groups. Patients with wheat allergy were further divided into 2 subgroups according to their symptoms: the wheat allergy with anaphylaxis (WA(Ana)) and wheat allergy without anaphylaxis (WA(Non-Ana)) groups. Serum concentrations of total IgE and specific IgE antibodies to wheat, gluten and ω-5 gliadin were measured.
RESULTS
The median values of specific IgE antibodies to wheat, gluten and ω-5 gliadin were significantly higher in the WA group than in the non-WA group, and the positive decision points (95% specificity) were at 3.12, 2.61, and 0.21 kUA/L, respectively. The combination of specific IgE antibodies to wheat and ω-5 gliadin resulted in the highest accuracy of 93.9% in diagnosing wheat allergy. In differentiating the WA(Ana) group from the WA(Non-Ana) group, only specific IgE antibody to ω-5 gliadin showed a significant difference at the optimal cutoff point of 1.56 kUA/L.
CONCLUSION
Our results show that the individual levels of specific IgE antibodies to wheat, gluten or ω-5 gliadin may have a considerably high accuracy in diagnosing wheat allergy and that specific IgE antibody to ω-5 gliadin may be particularly useful in predicting wheat anaphylaxis.

Keyword

Wheat hypersensitivity; Wheat; Glutens; Gliadin; Anaphylaxis

MeSH Terms

Anaphylaxis
Antibodies
Child*
Food Hypersensitivity
Gliadin*
Glutens*
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Immunoglobulin E*
Triticum*
Wheat Hypersensitivity*
Antibodies
Gliadin
Glutens
Immunoglobulin E

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Receiver operating characteristic curves represent sensitivity and specificity of specific IgE to wheat (solid), gluten (dotted), and ω-5 gliadin (dashed). (A) WA vs. Non-WA, (B) WAAna vs. WANon-Ana. WA, wheat allergy; Non-WA, non-wheat allergy; WAAna, wheat allergy with anaphylaxis; WANon-Ana, wheat allergy without anaphylaxis; AUC, area under the curve.

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