Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Extract Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bernsen, R. M. D.
Right arrow Articles by van der Wouden, J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bernsen, R. M. D.
Right arrow Articles by van der Wouden, J. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Am J Epidemiol 2002; 156:882.
Copyright © 2002 by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

RE: "DOES THE SIBLING EFFECT HAVE ITS ORIGIN IN UTERO? INVESTIGATING BIRTH ORDER, CORD BLOOD IMMUNOGLOBULIN E CONCENTRATION, AND ALLERGIC SENSITIZATION AT AGE 4 YEARS"

Roos M. D. Bernsen and Johannes C. van der Wouden

Erasmus University Rotterdam Dr. Molewaterplein 50 Rotterdam 3000 DR, The Netherlands

In the November 15, 2001, issue of the Journal, Karmaus et al. presented an interesting paper on the relation between immunoglobulin E cord blood and birth order (1). Their findings indicated that an intrauterine mechanism underlies the association between birth order and atopy, as has been hypothesized previously (2, 3). However, the age of the mother could be a confounder in this relation: Of course, birth order and the age of the mother are strongly related, and it is conceivable that the immune system changes with increasing age, thus changing the mother-fetus interaction. We wonder what the results would be if the analyses were adjusted for this characteristic.

REFERENCES

  1. Karmaus W, Arshad H, Mattes J. Does the sibling effect have its origin in utero? Investigating birth order, cord blood immunoglobulin E concentration, and allergic sensitization at age 4 years. Am J Epidemiol 2001;154:909–15.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Von Mutius E. The influence of birth order on the expression of atopy in families: a gene-environment interaction? Clin Exp Allergy 1998;28:1454–6.[ISI][Medline]
  3. Sunyer J, Antó JM, Harris J, et al. Maternal atopy and parity. Clin Exp Allergy 2001;31:1352–5.[ISI][Medline]

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?



This Article
Right arrow Extract Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bernsen, R. M. D.
Right arrow Articles by van der Wouden, J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bernsen, R. M. D.
Right arrow Articles by van der Wouden, J. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?