Staphylococcus aureus colonization is associated with development of food allergy in children with atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a letter to the editor from Dr. Andrea L. Jones and her associates.
In a study of 718 patients with AD, median food allergen–specific IgE levels to peanut were highest in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at 77.7 kilounits of allergen per liter. Patients with methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) had median food allergen–specific IgE (sIgE) levels to peanut of 38.9 kUA/L, and patients without S. aureus had median sIgE levels to peanut of 4.3 kUA/L, below the 95% positive predictive value of oral food challenge reaction in patients of 14 kUA/L.
Total IgE levels were highest in AD patients with MRSA at 4,498 kU/L, but were also elevated in patients with MSSA at 2,709 kU/L, compared with 217 kU/L for patients without S. aureus colonization.
“Studies are needed to assess the association between S. aureus skin colonization and food allergy in patients with AD. Confirmation of our current observations opens up the possibility that therapy directed at eradicating S. aureus colonization will be important in the prevention of food allergen sensitization and possibly food allergy in patients with AD,” the investigators concluded.
Find the full letter in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2016 Apr. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2016.01.010).