Abstract:
Objective: To investigate the role of food allergy in the pathogenesis of functional gastrointestinal disease.
Methods: Totally 400 patients with suspected allergy in children who were treated in our hospital from March 2014 to August 2015 were divided into two groups according to their clinical symptoms. The suspected food allergy with gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, irritability, crying, abdominal pain and other characteristics according to Rome Ⅲ diagnostic criteria, were classified as functional gastrointestinal disease group(220 cases)| the remaining 180 cases mainly with skin allergy symptoms, such as eczema, papular, nettle rash and other symptoms, were classified as the skin allergy group. ELISA assay was used to determine allergen specific IgE and chemiluminescence method was used to determine the serum total IgE.
Results: Of the 400 cases, serum total IgE was less than 100 IU/mL in 145 cases, accounting for 36.25%, 100～200 IU/mL in 83 cases(20.7%),>200 IU/mL in 172 cases(43.0%). The positive rate of serum total IgE was 63.75%(255/400),which was 61.36%(135/220) and 66.66%(120/180) respectively in functional gastrointestinal diseases group and skin allergy group(P>0.05). In the two groups, there were 258 cases of sIgE positive serum, the total positive rate of sIgE being 64.5%(258/400). Food allergy rates were: eggs(white+yellow) the highest, followed by milk, beef and mutton, seafood，nuts and fruit in turn. Positive serum sIgE was in 143 cases in the group of functional gastrointestinal diseases, and the positive rate of sIgE was 65%. There were 115 cases of sIgE positive in skin allergic group, and the positive rate of sIgE was 63.89%. There was no significant difference in serum sIgE positive rate between the two groups(P>0.05).
Conclusion: Food allergy can cause skin allergy symptoms, and some of the children also have the symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disease. It is necessary to ask in detail about the diet history and detect allergen in children with functional gastrointestinal disease, if you consider it is related to food allergy. This is helpful in finding the cause of food allergies in children, who can be given etiological treatment.

Key words: Food allergy, Functional gastrointestinal disease, Allergen specific IgE, Infant