Associations Between IgE-Allergen Sensitization and Glaucoma: An Analysis of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Prcis: Analysis of 1,175 Korean adults in the 2019 KNHANES study found that sensitization to house dust mites and birch pollen significantly increased glaucoma risk, while oak pollen sensitization showed a protective effect.

Background: The relationship between allergen sensitization and glaucoma remains poorly understood. This study investigated the association between specific allergen sensitization patterns and glaucoma risk using data from the 2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Methods: In this population-based cross-sectional study, we analyzed 1,175 adult participants (≥19 yrs) who completed ophthalmologic examinations and allergen sensitization assessments. Glaucoma diagnosis was based on International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology criteria. Specific IgE antibodies against seven common allergens were measured using ImmunoCAP assays, with significant sensitization defined as IgE ≥3.5 kU/L. We employed the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique to address class imbalance. Multiple logistic regression models were employed to evaluate associations between allergen sensitization and glaucoma, adjusting for demographic and clinical factors.

Results: Among the participants, 50 (4.3%) were diagnosed with glaucoma. Analysis of allergen sensitization patterns revealed house dust mites as the most prevalent allergen (11.7% overall), with comparable rates between the glaucoma (12.0%) and non-glaucoma groups (11.7%). Birch pollen sensitization followed at 4.1% and 4.0% in the glaucoma and non-glaucoma groups, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for confounders, identified house dust mite sensitization as having the strongest positive association with glaucoma (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.40-6.77, P=0.005), followed by birch pollen (OR 2.69, 95% CI 1.02-7.12, P=0.046). Interestingly, oak pollen sensitization demonstrated a protective effect (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.07-0.81, P=0.022).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest a complex relationship between allergen sensitization and glaucoma, with different allergens showing varying associations with disease risk.