Background Mice models suggest epigenetic inheritance induced by parental allergic
disease activity. However, we know little of how parental disease activity before
conception influences offspring’s asthma and allergy in humans.
Objective We aimed to assess the associations of parental asthma severity, bronchial
hyperresponsiveness (BHR), and total and specific IgEs, measured before conception vs.
after birth, with offspring asthma and hayfever.
Methods The study included 4293 participants (mean age 34, 47% men) from the European
Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) with information on asthma symptom
severity, BHR, total and specific IgEs from 1991 to 1993, and data on 9100 offspring
born 1972–2012. Adjusted relative risk ratios (aRRR) for associations of parental clinical
outcome with offspring allergic disease were estimated with multinomial logistic
regressions.
Results Offspring asthma with hayfever was more strongly associated with parental BHR
and specific IgE measured before conception than after birth [BHR: aRRR = 2.96 (95% CI:
1.92, 4.57) and 1.40 (1.03, 1.91), respectively; specific IgEs: 3.08 (2.13, 4.45) and 1.83
(1.45, 2.31), respectively]. This was confirmed in a sensitivity analysis of a subgroup of
offspring aged 11–22 years with information on parental disease activity both before and
after birth.
Conclusion & Clinical Relevance Parental BHR and specific IgE were associated with offspring
asthma and hayfever, with the strongest associations observed with clinical assessment
before conception as compared to after birth of the child. If the hypothesis is
confirmed in other studies, parental disease activity assessed before conception may prove
useful for identifying children at risk for developing asthma with hayfever.