Positive rate of wheat allergens in the Chinese allergic population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: In recent years, the prevalence of allergic diseases has increased significantly, causing great concern, and wheat, as one of the top 8 food allergens, is a common allergy trigger. Nevertheless, re-liable estimates of the positivity rate of wheat allergens in the allergic population in China are still lacking. The systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the positive detection rate of wheat allergens in the Chinese allergic population and further provides a reference for the prevention of allergy. Methods CNKI, CQVIP, WAN-FANG DATA, Sino Med, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were retrieved. Related research and case reports about the positive rate of wheat allergen in the Chinese population published until June 2022 were searched, and me-ta-analysis was performed using Stata software. The pooled positive rate of wheat allergens and 95% confidence interval were calculated by random effect models, and the publication bias was evaluated using Egger's test. A total of 14 articles that met the inclusion criteria were finally included for evaluation. Results Meta-analysis results of the single group rate showed that the wheat allergen positivity detection rate in Chinese allergic patients was 7.48% (95% CI: 5.85%- 9.11%). Subgroup analysis showed that the positivity rate of wheat allergens was influenced by region, but hardly by age and assessment method. The positive rates of wheat allergy in the population with allergic diseases were 2.67% (95% CI: 0.86%-4.49%) and 12.68% (95% CI: 8.27%-17.10%) in southern and northern China, re-spectively. In particular, the positive rates of wheat allergens were greater than 10% in Shaanxi, Henan and Nei Mongo, all of which belong to the northern region. Conclusions These results suggest that wheat allergens are an important cause of sensitization in Chinese allergic populations, mainly in the northern allergic population. Therefore, attention should be paid to the early screening and effective prevention and treatment of high-risk groups.