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Air pollution and IgE sensitization in 4 European birth cohorts-the MeDALL project.

Department of Clinical Sciences and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden; Sachs Children's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany. Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf, Germany. ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain; Hospital de Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain. Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Marien-Hospital Wesel, Wesel, Germany. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. MACVIA-France, Contre les Maladies Chroniques pour un Vieillissement Actif en France European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing Reference Site, Montpellier, France; INSERM U 1168, VIMA: Ageing and Chronic Diseases Epidemiological and Public Health Approaches, Villejuif, Université Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Montigny le Bretonneux, France. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Beatrix Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergology, Groningen, The Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), Groningen, The Netherlands. Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Institute of Psychology, Jagielonian University, Cracow, Poland. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany; Division of Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, University Hospital, LMU of Munich, Munich, Germany. Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Laboratory of Immunopathology, Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia; National Research Center-Institute of Immunology FMBA of Russia, Moscow, Russia; Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems, Austria. Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), Groningen, The Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Centre for Clinical Research Sörmland, Uppsala University, Eskilstuna, Sweden. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: olena.gruzieva@ki.se.

The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. 2021;(2):713-722
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Abstract

BACKGROUND Whether long-term exposure air to pollution has effects on allergic sensitization is controversial. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to investigate associations of air pollution exposure at birth and at the time of later biosampling with IgE sensitization against common food and inhalant allergens, or specific allergen molecules, in children aged up to 16 years. METHODS A total of 6163 children from 4 European birth cohorts participating in the Mechanisms of the Development of ALLergy [MeDALL] consortium were included in this meta-analysis of the following studies: Children, Allergy, Milieu, Stockholm, Epidemiology (BAMSE) (Sweden), Influences of Lifestyle-Related Factors on the Human Immune System and Development of Allergies in Childhood (LISA)/German Infant Study on the Influence of Nutrition Intervention PLUS Environmental and Genetic Influences on Allergy Development (GINIplus) (Germany), and Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy (PIAMA) (The Netherlands). The following indicators were modeled by land use regression: individual residential outdoor levels of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 μm, less than 10 μm, and between 2.5 and 10 μm; PM2.5 absorbance (a measurement of the blackness of PM2.5 filters); and nitrogen oxides levels. Blood samples drawn at ages 4 to 6 (n = 5989), 8 to 10 (n = 6603), and 15 to 16 (n = 5825) years were analyzed for IgE sensitization to allergen extracts by ImmunoCAP. Additionally, IgE against 132 allergen molecules was measured by using the MedALL microarray chip (n = 1021). RESULTS Air pollution was not consistently associated with IgE sensitization to any common allergen extract up to age 16 years. However, allergen-specific analyses suggested increased risks of sensitization to birch (odds ratio [OR] = 1.12 [95% CI = 1.01-1.25] per 10-μg/m3 increase in NO2 exposure). In a subpopulation with microarray data, IgE to the major timothy grass allergen Phleum pratense 1 (Phl p 1) and the cat allergen Felis domesticus 1 (Fel d 1) greater than 3.5 Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip standardized units for detection of IgE antibodies were related to PM2.5 exposure at birth (OR = 3.33 [95% CI = 1.40-7.94] and OR = 4.98 [95% CI = 1.59-15.60], respectively, per 5-μg/m3 increase in exposure). CONCLUSION Air pollution exposure does not seem to increase the overall risk of allergic sensitization; however, sensitization to birch as well as grass pollen Phl p 1 and cat Fel d 1 allergen molecules may be related to specific pollutants.

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Publication Type : Meta-Analysis

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