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Genetic Impact on the Development of Allergic Disease

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2014) | Viewed by 10718

Special Issue Editor

Department of Occupational Safety and Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
Interests: air pollution; pregnancy outcomes; asthma; gene-environment interaction; occupational and environmental epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Asthma is considered to be an inflammatory disease of the airways. Although knowledge of asthma’s pathogenetic mechanisms has advanced greatly during recent years, the factors that predispose individuals to asthma remain unknown. Currently known or strongly suspected determinants of asthma can be divided into two broad categories: constitutional (genetic or acquired congenital) and environmental. The interaction between genetic and environmental determinants has not been well investigated.

This special issue of IJERPH aims to advance the field of genetics within the area of allergic disease development. The issue will focus on the novel topic of gene-environment interaction in the context of asthma’s etiology. It aims to focus on air pollution’s effects (with respect to inducing asthma) and gene-environment interaction. This issue welcomes both quantitative and qualitative studies, and is intended to include papers that assess the effects of environmental factors (e.g., environmental tobacco smoke, indoor dampness and mold problems, and air pollution) on the development of asthma and asthma-like symptoms, as well as the genetic markers that predict of asthma. Identification of susceptible individuals increases the accuracy and precision of risk assessment, and provides a possibility of focusing on preventive efforts in a cost-effective manner.

Prof. Dr. Bing-Fang Hwang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • air pollution
  • asthma
  • gene-environment interaction

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

448 KiB  
Article
Associations Between Subjective Symptoms and Serum Immunoglobulin E Levels During Asian Dust Events
by Shinji Otani, Kazunari Onishi, Haosheng Mu, Takenobu Hosoda, Youichi Kurozawa and Masahide Ikeguchi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(8), 7636-7641; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110807636 - 29 Jul 2014
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4917
Abstract
Asian dust is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon caused by the displacement of atmospheric pollutants from the Mongolian and Chinese deserts. Although the frequency of Asian dust events and atmospheric dust levels have steadily increased in the eastern Asia region, the effects on human [...] Read more.
Asian dust is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon caused by the displacement of atmospheric pollutants from the Mongolian and Chinese deserts. Although the frequency of Asian dust events and atmospheric dust levels have steadily increased in the eastern Asia region, the effects on human health remain poorly understood. In the present study, the impact of Asian dust on human health was determined in terms of allergic reactions. A total of 25 healthy volunteers were tested for a relationship between serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and subjective symptoms during a 3-day Asian dust event recorded in April 2012. They filled daily questionnaires on the severity of nasal, pharyngeal, ocular, respiratory, and skin symptoms by a self-administered visual analog scale. Serum levels of non-specific IgE and 33 allergen-specific IgE molecules were analyzed. Spearman rank-correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between nasal symptom scores and 2 microbial-specific IgE levels (Penicillium and Cladosporium). Microbes migrate vast distances during Asian dust events by attaching themselves to dust particles. Therefore, some of these symptoms may be associated with type 1 allergic reactions to certain type of microbes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Impact on the Development of Allergic Disease)
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306 KiB  
Article
Interaction of Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM1) Polymorphisms and Environmental Tobacco Smoke on Childhood Asthma
by Yu-Fen Li, Che-Chen Lin and Chien-Kuo Tai
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(6), 6504-6516; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110606504 - 20 Jun 2014
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5343
Abstract
Asthma is a chronic disease that is particularly common in children. The association between polymorphisms of the gene encoding intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1) and gene-environment interactions with childhood asthma has not been fully investigated. A cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate these [...] Read more.
Asthma is a chronic disease that is particularly common in children. The association between polymorphisms of the gene encoding intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1) and gene-environment interactions with childhood asthma has not been fully investigated. A cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate these associations among children in Taiwan. The effects of two functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ICAM1, rs5491 (K56M) and rs5498 (K469E), and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were studied. Two hundred and eighteen asthmatic and 877 nonasthmatic children were recruited from elementary schools. It was found that the genetic effect of each SNP was modified by the other SNP and by exposure to ETS. The risk of asthma was higher for children carrying the rs5491 AT or TT genotypes and the rs5498 GG genotype (odds ratio = 1.68, 95% confidence interval 1.09–2.59) than for those with the rs5491 AA and rs5498 AA or AG genotypes (the reference group). The risk for the other two combinations of genotypes did not differ significantly from that of the reference group (p of interaction = 0.0063). The two studied ICAM1 SNPs were associated with childhood asthma among children exposed to ETS, but not among those without ETS exposure (p of interaction = 0.05 and 0.01 for rs5491 and rs5498, respectively). Both ICAM1 and ETS, and interactions between these two factors are likely to be involved in the development of asthma in childhood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Impact on the Development of Allergic Disease)
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