Asthma and allergies in a cohort of adolescents conceived with ART

Abstract

Research question: Are asthma and allergies more common in adolescents conceived with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) compared with adolescents conceived without? Design: The Growing Up Healthy Study (GUHS) is a prospective cohort study including ART-conceived offspring born between 1991 and 2001 in Perth, Australia. Their long-term health outcomes, including asthma and allergy parameters, were compared with those of their counterparts conceived without ART from the Raine Study Generation 2 (Gen2), born in 1989–1991. At age 14, 152 GUHS and 1845 Gen2 participants completed the following assessments: the International Studies of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, spirometry, methacholine challenge testing and skin prick testing (SPT). Results: No differences were detected in the prevalence of current asthma (7.7 % versus 10.8 %, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.82 (95 % CI 0.44 – 1.52), P = 0.530). Spirometry-measured lung volumes were larger in the ART adolescents. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness was less prevalent in the ART cohort (8.8 versus 18.6 %, P = 0.006). Current allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC) rates were significantly higher in the ART cohort (32.4 % versus 25.2 %, aOR 1.52 [95 % CI 1.03 – 2.26], P = 0.036), with no cohort differences in atopic dermatitis. Food allergies were more prevalent in the ART cohort (20.7 versus 10.9 %, aOR 1.89 [95 % CI 1.17 – 3.06], P = 0.010) with more adolescents having a positive SPT (68.0 % versus 45.4 %, aOR 3.03 [95 % 1.99 – 4.63], P < 0.001). Conclusions: This study reports no differences in asthma prevalence, slightly altered lung function, an increase in ARC, food allergies and positive SPT in the ART-conceived adolescents. These findings are important to families and healthcare providers and may open up possibilities for targeted screening and treatment. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.

RAS ID

51823

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

12-1-2022

Volume

45

Issue

6

Funding Information

National Health and Medical Research Council

PubMed ID

36182641

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

Grant Number

NHMRC Numbers : 1042269, 211912, 3209, 403981

Grant Link

http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1042269 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/211912 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/3209

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Elsevier

Comments

Wijs, L. A., Doherty, D. A., Keelan, J. A., Penova-Veselinovic, B., Burton, P., Yovich, J. L., ... & Hart, R. J. (2022). Asthma and allergies in a cohort of adolescents conceived with ART. Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 45(6), 1255-1265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2022.07.007

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1016/j.rbmo.2022.07.007