Infants with a specific skin gene mutation who are exposed to peanut protein in household dust may be more likely to develop a peanut allergy, according to a new study, according to a report on WebMd.com.
The study, published this month in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found that 20% of children with peanut allergy had an FLG mutation, a specific skin barrier defect.
Peanut allergy and other food allergies have been linked to severe eczema, a skin disorder, in early infancy, the U.K. researchers said, and reported by WebMd.
In conducting the study, researchers at King's College London and colleagues examined the amount of peanut protein to which 577 babies were exposed during their first year of life, reported WebMd. This was done by measuring the amount of peanut protein in the dust collected by vacuum from the living room sofa in their home. The children were tested for peanut allergy years later when they were 8 and 11 years old.
Previous studies identified a specific gene that codes for the skin barrier protein, filaggrin. Mutations to this gene, known as the FLG gene, lead to a skin barrier impairment, which is thought to make the body more vulnerable to an allergic reaction.
WebMd reports that the researchers found that a threefold increase in exposure to peanut protein in dust in the first 12 months of life was associated with a threefold increase in risk for a later peanut allergy. They said, however, exposure to peanut protein in household dust had no effect on children who did not have a skin barrier defect from an FLG mutation.