South Korean study links persistent childhood food allergies to placental gene regulation

A long-term study conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) and the National Institute of Health has identified a link between persistent childhood food allergies and epigenetic characteristics in the placenta at birth.

Researchers tracked 1,518 children through age seven as part of the COCOA (Respiratory Allergy Disease Birth Cohort) study. The findings revealed that children in the “early persistent” group—those whose food allergies lasted until age seven—exhibited significantly different DNA methylation levels in specific genes, namely RPS6KA2 and GCSAML, within their placentas at birth compared to other groups.

Furthermore, children with persistent food allergies showed higher levels of allergic inflammatory immune responses at ages three and seven. This group also faced a significantly higher risk of developing asthma; the asthma diagnosis rate for children with persistent food allergies was 15.0%, approximately 6.5 times higher than the 2.3% rate observed in children without food allergies.

While the study suggests that prenatal biological differences and subsequent immune development may influence the course of food allergies, researchers noted that these placental changes are not necessarily the direct cause of the allergies. The findings, published in the journal ‘Allergy’, highlight the need for early diagnosis and preventative management strategies for high-risk children.