Extracellular Vesicle-Encapsulated microRNAs and Respiratory Health Among American Indian Participants in the Strong Heart Study.

Background: American Indian populations have experienced marked disparities in respiratory disease burden. Extracellular vesicle-encapsulated microRNAs (EV-miRNAs) are a novel class of biomarkers that may improve recognition of lung damage in indigenous populations in the United States.

Research Question: Are plasma EV-miRNAs viable biomarkers of respiratory health in American Indian populations?

Study Design And Methods: The Strong Heart Study is a prospective cohort study that enrolled American Indian patients aged 45 to 74 years.

Fungal diversity in homes and asthma morbidity among school-age children in New York City.

Background: Asthma development has been inversely associated with exposure to fungal diversity. However, the influence of fungi on measures of asthma morbidity is not well understood.

Objectives: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that fungal diversity is inversely associated with neighborhood asthma prevalence and identify specific fungal species associated with asthma morbidity.

Spring is associated with increased total and allergenic fungal concentrations in house dust from a pediatric asthma cohort in New York City.

Introduction: Asthma and allergy symptoms vary seasonally due to exposure to environmental sources of allergen, including fungi. However, we need an improved understanding of seasonal influence on fungal exposures in the indoor environment. We hypothesized that concentrations of total fungi and allergenic species in vacuumed dust vary significantly by season.

Indoor Environmental Factors May Modify the Response to Mouse Allergen Reduction Among Mouse-Sensitized and Exposed Children with Persistent Asthma.

Background: Whether concomitant home exposures modify the effectiveness of mouse allergen reduction among mouse-sensitized children with asthma is unknown.

Objective: To determine whether a lower baseline home mouse allergen level, lower particulate matter 10 μ or less (PM), and the absence of sensitization and exposure to other indoor allergens are associated with greater improvements in asthma associated with mouse allergen reduction.

Methods: A secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial of a home mouse allergen intervention was performed to examine the effect of 3 indoor factors on the relationship between mouse allergen reduction and a range of asthma outcomes.

Vishniacozyma victoriae (syn. Cryptococcus victoriae) in the homes of asthmatic and non-asthmatic children in New York City.

Background: Indoor environments contain a broad diversity of non-pathogenic Basidiomycota yeasts, but their role in exacerbating adverse health effects has remained unclear.

Objective: To understand the role of Vishniacozyma victoriae exposure and its impact on human health.

Methods: A qPCR assay was developed to detect and quantify an abundant indoor yeast species, Vishniacozyma victoriae (syn.

Morphology and quantification of fungal growth in residential dust and carpets.

Mold growth indoors is associated with negative human health effects, and this growth is limited by moisture availability. Dust deposited in carpet is an important source of human exposure due to potential elevated resuspension compared to hard floors. However, we need an improved understanding of fungal growth in dust and carpet to better estimate human exposure.

Reduction in mouse allergen exposure is associated with greater lung function growth.

Background: Current childhood asthma therapies have little effect on lung function trajectory.

Objective: We sought to determine whether mouse allergen exposure reduction is associated with lung function growth in mouse-sensitized/exposed asthmatic children.

Methods: Three hundred fifty mouse-sensitized/exposed asthmatic children (5-17 years old) were enrolled in a 1-year randomized trial of integrated pest management plus education versus education alone.

Do Baseline Asthma and Allergic Sensitization Characteristics Predict Responsiveness to Mouse Allergen Reduction?

Background: Mouse allergen reduction is associated with improvements in asthma among sensitized and exposed children, but whether clinical characteristics predict responsiveness to allergen reduction is unclear.

Objective: To examine the effects of clinical characteristics on relationships between mouse allergen reduction and asthma outcomes.

Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial of a mouse allergen intervention, examining the effects of atopy, demographic characteristics, lung function, asthma control, and asthma severity on relationships between mouse allergen reduction and asthma outcomes.

Complex relationships between vitamin D and allergic sensitization among Puerto Rican 2-year-old children.

Background: In the United States, Puerto Ricans have a higher prevalence of asthma than other Latino ethnicities. Low vitamin D levels for children living in northern climates could be a factor.

Objective: To assess serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] distributions (a marker of vitamin D) and associations among vitamin D, allergic sensitization, early wheeze, and home/demographic factors.

Reduced mouse allergen is associated with epigenetic changes in regulatory genes, but not mouse sensitization, in asthmatic children.

Chronic exposure to mouse allergen may contribute greatly to the inner-city asthma burden. We hypothesized that reducing mouse allergen exposure may modulate the immunopathology underlying symptomatic pediatric allergic asthma, and that this occurs through epigenetic regulation. To test this hypothesis, we studied a cohort of mouse sensitized, persistent asthmatic inner-city children undergoing mouse allergen-targeted integrated pest management (IPM) vs education in a randomized controlled intervention trial.

Effect of an Integrated Pest Management Intervention on Asthma Symptoms Among Mouse-Sensitized Children and Adolescents With Asthma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Professionally delivered integrated pest management (IPM) interventions can reduce home mouse allergen concentrations, but whether they reduce asthma morbidity among mouse-sensitized and exposed children and adolescents is unknown.

Objective: To determine the effect of an IPM intervention on asthma morbidity among mouse-sensitized and exposed children and adolescents with asthma.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized clinical trial conducted in Baltimore, Maryland, and Boston, Massachusetts.

Allergic sensitization patterns identified through latent class analysis among children with and without asthma.

Background: Specific patterns of allergic sensitization to common allergens may provide relevant clinical insight into asthma risk.

Objective: To identify patterns of allergic sensitization based on multiple individual allergens and link these to current and persistent asthma using baseline and 3-year follow-up data.

Methods: Children 7 to 8 years old with (n = 196) and without (n = 136) asthma from the New York City Neighborhood Asthma and Allergy Study were studied.

Mold populations and dust mite allergen concentrations in house dust samples from across Puerto Rico.

Lifetime childhood asthma prevalence (LCAP) percentages in Puerto Rico Health Regions (HR) are substantially higher in northeastern vs. southwestern HR. Higher average relative humidity in the northeast might promote mold and mite exposures and possibly asthma prevalence.

Domestic airborne black carbon levels and 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate among children in New York City.

Background: Exposure to airborne black carbon (BC) has been associated with asthma development, respiratory symptoms and decrements in lung function. However, the mechanism through which BC may lead to respiratory symptoms has not been completely elucidated. Oxidative stress has been suggested as a potential mechanism through which BC might lead to adverse health outcomes.

Association of recent exposure to ambient metals on fractional exhaled nitric oxide in 9-11 year old inner-city children.

Exposure to ambient metals in urban environments has been associated with wheeze, and emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to respiratory illness. However, the effect of ambient metals exposure on airway inflammation, and how these associations may be modified by seroatopy, has not been determined. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is a reliable proxy marker of airway inflammation.

Sociocultural characteristics, obesity and inflammatory biomarkers in Puerto Rican toddlers born in New York City.

Background: In the USA, Puerto Rican children have a higher prevalence of asthma than other Latino ethnicities, and acculturation is one of hypothesized reasons for this difference. We examined associations between sociocultural characteristics and serum leptin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and body mass index (BMI), and further, among hsCRP, leptin levels, BMI percentiles, and allergic sensitization in 2-year-old children.

Methods: IgE antibodies, leptin, and hsCRP concentrations were measured in serum from Puerto Rican toddlers (n = 143) born in New York City with a maternal history of allergy and/or asthma.

Early-life cockroach allergen and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposures predict cockroach sensitization among inner-city children.

Background: Sensitization to cockroach is one of the strongest identified risk factors for greater asthma morbidity in low-income urban communities; however, the timing of exposures relevant to the development of sensitization has not been elucidated fully. Furthermore, exposure to combustion byproducts, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), can augment the development of allergic sensitization.

Objective: We sought to test the hypotheses that domestic cockroach allergen measured prenatally would predict cockroach sensitization in early childhood and that this association would be greater for children exposed to higher PAH concentrations.

Children's urinary phthalate metabolites and fractional exhaled nitric oxide in an urban cohort.

Rationale: Phthalates are used widely in consumer products. Exposure to several phthalates has been associated with respiratory symptoms and decreased lung function. Associations between children's phthalate exposures and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (Fe(NO)), a biomarker of airway inflammation, have not been examined.

Domestic airborne black carbon and exhaled nitric oxide in children in NYC.

Differential exposure to combustion by-products and allergens may partially explain the marked disparity in asthma prevalence (3-18%) among New York City neighborhoods. Subclinical changes in airway inflammation can be measured by fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). FeNO could be used to test independent effects of these environmental exposures on airway inflammation.