Associations between fetal or infancy pet exposure and food allergies: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

The hygiene hypothesis suggests that pet exposure is effective in preventing allergic disease, and some studies have reported the beneficial effects of dog exposure during fetal development or early infancy on food allergy. However, the effects of exposure to pets other than dogs on the kinds of foo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2023-03, Vol.18 (3), p.e0282725-e0282725
Main Authors: Okabe, Hisao, Hashimoto, Koichi, Yamada, Mika, Ono, Takashi, Yaginuma, Kazufumi, Kume, Yohei, Chishiki, Mina, Sato, Akiko, Ogata, Yuka, Imaizumi, Karin, Murata, Tsuyoshi, Kyozuka, Hyo, Shinoki, Kosei, Yasumura, Seiji, Nishigori, Hidekazu, Fujimori, Keiya, Hosoya, Mitsuaki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Allergens
Allergic diseases
Allergies
Analysis
Animals
Asthma
Biology and Life Sciences
Breastfeeding & lactation
Caregivers
Cat Diseases
Cats
Children
Cohort analysis
Cohort Studies
Complications and side effects
Crustaceans
Dermatitis
Diagnosis
Dog Diseases
Dogs
Education
Eggs
Environmental Exposure
Exposure
Families & family life
Family income
Female
Fetus
Fetuses
Food
Food allergies
Food allergy
Food hypersensitivity
Food Hypersensitivity - epidemiology
Food Hypersensitivity - etiology
Growth
Hay fever
Health aspects
Health risks
Humans
Hygiene
Industrialized nations
Japan - epidemiology
Medical records
Medical research
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine, Experimental
Multiple births
Nut Hypersensitivity
Nuts
Parent educational background
Pets
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies
Questionnaires
Regression analysis
Rhinitis
Risk
Siblings
Soybean
Soybeans
Womens health
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Summary:The hygiene hypothesis suggests that pet exposure is effective in preventing allergic disease, and some studies have reported the beneficial effects of dog exposure during fetal development or early infancy on food allergy. However, the effects of exposure to pets other than dogs on the kinds of food allergies remains unaddressed. This study aimed to explore the effect of exposure to various species of pets on the risk of food allergies. We obtained information on pet exposure and food allergy from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, a nationwide, prospective birth cohort study that included 97,413 mothers and their children. We examined the associations between exposure to various species of pets during fetal development or early infancy and the incidence risk of food allergies. We conducted logistic regression analysis for each pet species, causative food, and timing of exposure. Exposure to dogs or cats during fetal development or early infancy was estimated to reduce the incidence risk of food allergies until the age of 3 years. Dog exposure was estimated to reduce the incidence risk of egg, milk, and nut allergies, and cat exposure was estimated to reduce the incidence risk of egg, wheat, and soybean allergies. However, hamster exposure was estimated to increase the incidence risk of nut allergy. In conclusion, the association between pet exposure and food allergies might differ depending on the pet species and causative food. Continued dog and cat exposure from fetal development to infancy was estimated to reduce the incidence risk of food allergies. The findings of this study shall aid in the design of future studies.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0282725