Allergy may protect against heart attack: serum sIgE is inversely related to myocardial infarction

Data were analyzed from 400 participants aged over 20 years from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Subjects reporting a history of myocardial infarction (MI) had lower summed serum allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) (5.5 vs 7.7 kU/L) and were less likely to have one or more positive sIgE test (30% vs 45%) or current hay fever (3% vs 8%).

The odds ratio (OR) for MI was 0.91 per positive sIgE; 0.70 per 2-fold increase in sum[sIgE].

House dust mite was the only allergen for which sIgE was associated with reduced odds for MI (OR, 0.36).

Serum sIgE is inversely related to MI in the US population in a manner independent of multiple coronary risk factors.

References:

Relation between objective measures of atopy and myocardial infarction in the United States. JACI, 2012.