Khaberni - A large-scale medical study conducted in Taiwan has shown a link between the use of assisted reproductive technologies, such as IVF, and a higher risk of children developing some allergic diseases early in their lives, compared to children born through natural pregnancy, according to a report published by the scientific site "MedicalXpress".
According to the study, published in the JAMA Network Open journal, children conceived using artificial insemination techniques were more prone to asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic eczema, conditions collectively categorized as atopic diseases.
The researchers based their study on health data analysis from more than 23 million people registered in Taiwan's national health insurance databases, and data bases on reproductive health and maternal and child health. The sample included about 14 thousand children born using assisted reproductive technologies, against more than 55 thousand naturally born children, selected according to identical criteria in terms of the mother's age, gender of the newborn, and date of birth.
The assisted reproductive technologies studied included in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo transfer, intracytoplasmic injection, and other widely adopted procedures in modern medicine.
The results showed that the risk of asthma in children born through assisted reproductive technologies rose by approximately 13% after adjusting for influencing factors, while the risk of allergic rhinitis rose by 15%, and atopic eczema by 8%, compared to their peers born naturally.
Additionally, researchers noted other health variations, the most prominent of which were higher rates of cesarean births, multiple births, lower birth weights at birth, as well as increased cases of preterm births, factors believed to contribute to increased susceptibility to allergic diseases.
Diverse results according to the type of procedure
In a more detailed analysis, the study did not find statistically significant differences in the risk of developing allergy diseases among children conceived specifically using intracytoplasmic injection, compared to other artificial insemination techniques.
Conversely, the results showed that fresh embryo transfer was associated with an increased risk of developing allergic rhinitis compared to frozen embryo transfer, while no clear difference in the risk of developing asthma or atopic eczema between the two methods was recorded.
The need for long-term follow-up
Researchers emphasized that these results do not necessarily mean that assisted reproductive technologies directly cause allergy diseases, but they indicate a relationship that warrants further research, especially to understand the potential biological mechanisms that may link early embryonic development stages to the immune system later on.
The research team called for long-term follow-up studies of children born through artificial insemination, to more accurately assess potential health risks, and develop preventive strategies that reduce the likelihood of developing chronic diseases in childhood.
It is worth noting that the use of assisted reproductive technologies is witnessing a significant increase in high-income countries, currently contributing between 1% and4% of total births, making understanding their long-term health impacts an increasingly important public health issue.
