Coincidence of atopy profile in terms of monosensitization and polysensitization in children and their parents

Background: Results from epidemiologic studies have shown that childhood atopy is probably a hereditary disorder, because the offspring of affected parents have a higher risk of developing atopy. Among the atopic population, some subjects are sensitized to only one class of allergens (monosensitized), while other subjects are sensitized to more than one class of allergens (polysensitized). The aim of this study was to investigate whether atopy profile (monosensitization/ polysensitization) in children is linked to the same conditions in their parents. Methods: We evaluated sensitization to five classes of aeroallergens (house dust mites, animal danders, pollens, molds, and cockroach) by skin prick testing in a group of 494 children with suspicious allergic symptoms and in their parents. Results: The frequency of parental atopy was highest (51.6%) in polysensitized children (n = 189), intermediate (37.1%) in monosensitized children (n = 178), and was lowest (22.4%) in nonsensitized children (n = 127). The proportion of polysensitized subjects among atopic parents was significantly higher for polysensitized children (45.6%) than for monosensitized children (31.1%). Polysensitized children were found to more frequently have one or both parents polysensitized (32.3%, 7.4%) than monosensitized children (18.5%, 2.2%) with odds ratios of 2.09 (95% CI: 1.29-3.40) and 3.48 (1.12-10.78), respectively, whereas the likelihood of having one or two monosensitized parents was not increased for polysensitized children. Conclusion: Our data suggest a familial coincidence of atopy profile in terms of monosensitization and polysensitization, although the relative importance of genetic or environmental influence should be studied further.