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Influenza and Respiratory Care pp 71–78Cite as

Association of Estrogen-Related Traits with Allergic Rhinitis

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((NR,volume 968))

Abstract

Estrogen’s role in allergic diseases has recently been of considerable interest. The present article seeks to determine the relationship between estrogen-dependent traits and allergic rhinitis. The following traits were considered: digit ratio, age at menarche, regularity of menstrual cycles, and the waist to hip ratio. The study consisted of surveys and measurement data collected from 768 female university undergraduates. One hundred and sixty eight undergraduates (21.9%) had been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis. The results of logistic regression show that in women with a high digit ratio, indicating exposure to a higher estrogen level in the prenatal period, the risk of allergic rhinitis was almost twice as high as that in those with an average value of the ratio. The difference in the digit ratio was greater for the right than left hand. A significantly higher risk of allergic rhinitis was also observed in women who experienced first menstruation at a younger age. No differences in risk of allergic rhinitis were noted due to general obesity, abdominal obesity, or irregularity of menstrual cycles. We conclude that a higher digit ratio is suggestive of a propensity to allergies in adulthood plausibly having to do with greater exposure to estrogen at early stages of ontogenetic development.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, 9 Gronostajowa Street, 30-387, Cracow, Poland

    Katarzyna Kliś & Iwona Wronka

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  1. Katarzyna Kliś
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  2. Iwona Wronka
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Correspondence to Katarzyna Kliś .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Opole Medical School, Opole, Poland

    Mieczyslaw Pokorski

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Kliś, K., Wronka, I. (2017). Association of Estrogen-Related Traits with Allergic Rhinitis. In: Pokorski, M. (eds) Influenza and Respiratory Care. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 968. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2016_190

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