[Feature of food allergy developed during infancy (2)--acquisition of tolerance against hen's egg, cow's milk, wheat, and soybean up to 3 years old].

Background: Once food elimination is introduced, it is important to know for doctors when patients generally develop oral tolerance against eliminated food. To clarify the point, following study was conducted.

Methods: We analyzed 304 patient profiles with food allergy in our division between 1994 and 2001. The diagnosis of oral tolerance was determined by the results of food challenges or the accidental episodes of ingestion.

Results: By the age of 3 years old, 78% of food allergy patients with soybean, 63% of those with wheat, 60% of those with cow's milk, 51% of those with egg yolk, and 31% of those with egg white developed oral tolerance, respectively. IgE CAP RAST scores against cow's milk, egg yolk, and egg white in the patients without tolerance were significantly higher than those in the patients with tolerance.

Conclusion: Patients developed oral tolerance firstly against soybean followed by wheat, cow's milk, egg yolk and egg white during the first 3 years of life. The specific IgE antibody levels against egg and cow's milk are important for the diagnosis of tolerance.