The researchers, who reviewed records since 1955 in the Danish National Birth Cohort, detected a 4-fold increase in rates of atopic dermatitis among women who reported having more than four drinks per week while they were pregnant.

"The results suggest that alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk of early-onset atopic dermatitis in predisposed infants," said presenter Allan Linneberg, MD, Senior Scientist, Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup University Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark.

In his poster presentation, Dr. Linneberg demonstrated that as alcohol consumption among Danes increased between 155 and 2000, so did reported increases in atopic dermatitis. Dr. Linneberg and colleagues scrutinized records of 24,231 mother-child pairs and doctors' interviews with the mothers after the child was 18 months of age.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy was associated with a significant (P <.05) and dose-dependent increased risk of atopic dermatitis in the infant, Dr. Linneberg said. This effect was mainly seen in children born to parents who were at high risk of allergy themselves.

Children of non-drinkers had little increased risk of having atopic dermatitis. The risk doubled if one parent was atopic; nearly tripled if the mother had more than four drinks per week.

If both parents had atopy, the initial risk of having a child with atopic dermatitis was about 2.2 times higher than if neither parent had atopy. If the mother of the high risk child had more than four drinks a week, the chance that the child will have atopic dermatitis was 8.5 times higher if that child was born to non-drinking, non-allergic parents.

"Alcohol passes the feto-placental barrier and may thus influence the immune system of the fetus," Dr. Linneberg said.

In another study presented by Dr. Linneberg at the meeting, data suggested that drinking alcohol may stimulate acetaldehyde to increase histamine-release from mast cells, causing atopic dermatitis.

He said that the cohort of children is still being studied to determine if there is any connection between peri-natal alcohol consumption and allergy development in children in later early childhood.


[Presentation titles: The Association Between Alcohol Consumption and Atopy in Danish Adults. Abstract 517. Alcohol During Pregnancy And Atopic Dermatitis In The Offspring. Abstract 905]

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