Genetic Susceptibility to Allergic Conditions: A Focus on Epigenetic Mechanisms

Dear Colleagues,

It has long been speculated that childhood asthma and atopic disease originate in utero and/or early childhood. In recent years, various hypotheses have been put forward to explain the early childhood origins of asthma and allergic disease. Perhaps first and foremost among these is the hygiene hypothesis, whereby the increasing prevalence of asthma and allergic disease can be attributed to the cleaner environment that results in reduced exposure of a developing immune system. The hygiene hypothesis is complemented by the microbiota hypothesis and our increasing knowledge of the importance of the microbiome in disease development. The link between the hygiene hypothesis and the microbiome is in line with the Developmental Origins of Human Disease or DoHD, which speculates that many diseases have their origins in early life. Central to these arguments is the importance of early environmental exposures and epigenetic regulation of the genome. The latter not only supports these hypotheses but will also provide insights in the mechanisms of the early origins of many allergic phenotypes.

My personal research interests are in the study of gene–gene and gene–environment interactions.  During my career, I have conducted numerous genetic association studies and evaluations of environmental risk factors, but have been frustrated by the limited ability to examine gene–environment interactions. In the last several years, we have seen the growth of studies that incorporate the environment in their analyses, including the assessment of the epigenome, which is believed to modify gene expression in response to environmental exposures. This has given birth to a new study design, i.e., the epigenome-wide association study (EWAS).  With our ability to evaluate the epigenome come exciting opportunities to better understand gene–environment interactions involved in the development of common complex diseases. This Special Issue titled “Genetic Susceptibility to Allergic Conditions: a Focus on Epigenetic Mechanisms” will aim to understand the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to the burden of allergic disease. 

We invite novel research and review articles relevant to this topic.

Prof. Denise Daley
Guest Editor

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• asthma
• allergy
• eczema
• epigenetics
• association
• genetics