Birth after preeclamptic pregnancies: association with allergic sensitization and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in late childhood; a historically matched cohort study

Background: The development of allergic sensitization and allergic disease may be related to factors during intrauterine life, but the role of maternal preeclampsia is not known. We studied if maternal preeclampsia is associated with long-term allergic sensitization, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, atopic dermatitis, asthma and with altered lung function in late childhood. Methods: 617 children participated in a 1:2 matched and controlled historical cohort study; 230 born after preeclamptic pregnancies and 387 born after normotensive pregnancies. Specific IgE in serum and lung function were measured at the age of 12.8 years and questionnaires on maternal and adolescent data were completed at the ages of 10.8 years (girls) and 11.8 years (boys), and at 12.8 years (both genders). The association between birth after preeclampsia and the main outcome measures allergic sensitization, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, atopic dermatitis, asthma and lung function in late childhood were analysed with multiple regression analyses, including possible confounders. Results: Severe maternal preeclampsia was associated with high level allergic sensitization (sum of specific IgE in serum ≥ 3.9 kU/l; the 25 percentile for all children being sensitized); odds ratio (OR): 3.79; 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.54, 9.32); p = 0.015 and with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in offspring; OR: 2.22, 95% CI: (1.19, 4.14), p = 0.047. Preeclampsia was not associated with atopic dermatitis, asthma or altered lung function in late childhood. Conclusion: Maternal preeclampsia was associated with allergic sensitization and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in offspring in late childhood, but not with other atopic diseases.