Background: Although food-specific IgG is associated with the development and progression of some diseases as shown by many studies, it is also present in the population without clinical symptoms. However, the damage of the immune response it evokes to the health of such population has not been studied yet.
Methods: The asymptomatic physical examination population (APEP) was selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the physical examination data were collected. The subjects were divided into IgG-positive group (IgG-po group) and IgG-negative group (IgG-neg group). The hematologic and imaging examination results were compared between the two groups, and their odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated using binary logistic regression to determine the relationship between food-specific IgG and different health outcomes.
Results: The data of 28,292 subjects were included in the analysis of the study. The overall IgG positive rate was up to 52.3%, with mild to moderate IgG positive predominantly. Compared with IgG negative group, IgG positive group was associated with a decrease in the risks of hypertriglyceridemia, abnormal fasting blood glucose and overweight(OR=0.87,95%:CI:0.83-0.92; OR=0.93,95%CI:0.87-0.99; OR=0.92,95%CI:0.87-0.96) and with an increase in the incidence rate of thyroid nodule (OR=1.09,95%CI:1.04-1.15).
Conclusion: Food-specific IgG is generally present in APEP and has an unique distribution profile, which plays a positive role in maintaining normal body weight and metabolic indicators(triglyceride(TG) and fasting blood glucose(FBG)), without influencing the nutritional status. The physiological mechanism is worth further study.