Associação entre disfunção do trato urinário inferior e alergia alimentar em crianças e adolescentes

Abstract

Lower urinary tract disorders (LUTD) and atopic diseases are very prevalent in childhood and adolescence. Among the atopies, food allergies have stood out in recent years, with an increase in their prevalence of around 8%. A possible association between LUTD and allergic diseases has been prescribed and may occur due to several disorders. The participation of the inflammatory process in the pathophysiology of both conditions and the importance of the role of the microbiota both in the pathophysiology of food allergies and in the development of urological diseases have been increasingly recognized. However, publications investigating the association between food allergies and lower urinary tract dysfunction are scarce in the literature. The objective of this work was to study the association between lower urinary tract dysfunction and food allergies in children and adolescents. This is a case-control study evaluating children and adolescents, aged 3 to 17 years, with proven IgE-mediated food allergies and a control group of the same age group without current or previous history of food allergies. The validated DVSS questionnaire (Disfunctional Voiding Symptom Score) and a form with questions about breastfeeding, use of supplements in the maternity ward, food allergies, enuresis, urinary tract infection, asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis were applied to both groups. For statistical analysis, Software R version 4.2.1 was used. EpiDisplay was used to calculate the raw and adjusted odds-ratios. A total of 88 individuals were analyzed, 44 in group 1 (with food allergy) and 44 in group 2 (without food allergy). The average age in group 1 was 7.84 years and in group 2 it was 7.95, 43.3% were female in group 1 and 40.9% in group 2. The foods most frequently responsible for the allergy food were cow's milk (90.90%) and egg (29.54%). The distribution of LUTD, assessed by the DVSS, did not differ between groups. Exclusive breastfeeding was associated with protection against food allergies (p=0.006) and LUTD (OR0.34 CI0.12-0.99, p=0.043). The use of supplements in the maternity was associated with a higher risk of food allergy (p=0.002). The present study did not show an association between food allergy and LUTD. However, it highlighted the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in preventing the distribuition of food allergy and LUTD.