Abstract
Both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in the determination of serum IgE levels. We measured cord blood-IgE (CB-IgE) in twins by a sensitive radioimmunoassay with detectable levels of IgE in all samples. Samples with contamination by maternal blood were identified by IgA determination and excluded. CB-IgE was evaluated in 29 monzygotic (MZ) and 28 dizygotic (DZ) otherwise unselected like-sexed twin pairs. By analysis of variance with subsampling the among-pair, within-pair and analytical variance components were calculated. A significant genetic dependence (p<0.005) was oberved by comparison of MZ and DZ within-pair variances (mean squares). The genetic variance and the intra-class coefficients were used to obtain heritability estimates of 0.30 and 0.34, respectively. The levels of CB-IgE were significantly dependent on genetic factors, but a substantial component seemed to be derived from the intra-uterine environment.
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Husby, S., Holm, N., Skov, R. et al. 315 GENETIC ANALYSIS OF CORD BLOOD IgE IN UNSELECTED LIKE-SEXED MONOZYGOTIC AND DIZYGOTIC TWINS. Pediatr Res 36, 55 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199407000-00315
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199407000-00315
