Spirometric patterns in young and middle-aged adults: a 20-year European study.

Background: Understanding the natural history of abnormal spirometric patterns at different stages of life is critical to identify and optimise preventive strategies. We aimed to describe characteristics and risk factors of restrictive and obstructive spirometric patterns occurring before 40 years (young onset) and between 40 and 61 years (mid-adult onset).

Methods: We used data from the population-based cohort of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS).

Integration of gene expression and DNA methylation identifies epigenetically controlled modules related to PM exposure.

Air pollution has been associated with adverse health effects across the life-course. Although underlying mechanisms are unclear, several studies suggested pollutant-induced changes in transcriptomic profiles. In this meta-analysis of transcriptome-wide association studies of 656 children and adolescents from three European cohorts participating in the MeDALL Consortium, we found two differentially expressed transcript clusters (FDR p < 0.

Cumulative Occupational Exposures and Lung-Function Decline in Two Large General-Population Cohorts.

Few longitudinal studies have assessed the relationship between occupational exposures and lung-function decline in the general population with a sufficiently long follow-up. To examine the potential association in two large cohorts: the ECRHS (European Community Respiratory Health Survey) and the SAPALDIA (Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults). General-population samples of individuals aged 18 to 62 were randomly selected in 1991-1993 and followed up approximately 10 and 20 years later.

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

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).

Environmental and nutritional impacts of dietary changes in Spain during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The COVID lockdown has affected food purchases and eating habits. In this regard, this short communication assesses the nutritional and environmental impacts of these changes during the COVID lockdown in Spain, by applying Life Cycle Assessment and an energy- and nutrient-corrected functional unit. Three environmental impacts were studied (Global Warming Potential, Blue Water Footprint and Land Use) and a total of seven weekly diet scenarios were designed: two pre-COVID diets for March and April in 2019 (MAR19, APR19), one COVID diet (COVID) and two alternative diets, one based on the National Dietary Guidelines (NDG) and another one on the Planetary Health Diet (PHD).

A novel whole blood gene expression signature for asthma, dermatitis, and rhinitis multimorbidity in children and adolescents.

Background: Allergic diseases often occur in combination (multimorbidity). Human blood transcriptome studies have not addressed multimorbidity. Large-scale gene expression data were combined to retrieve biomarkers and signaling pathways to disentangle allergic multimorbidity phenotypes.

Epigenome-wide meta-analysis of blood DNA methylation in newborns and children identifies numerous loci related to gestational age.

Background: Preterm birth and shorter duration of pregnancy are associated with increased morbidity in neonatal and later life. As the epigenome is known to have an important role during fetal development, we investigated associations between gestational age and blood DNA methylation in children.

Methods: We performed meta-analysis of Illumina's HumanMethylation450-array associations between gestational age and cord blood DNA methylation in 3648 newborns from 17 cohorts without common pregnancy complications, induced delivery or caesarean section.

Prenatal Particulate Air Pollution and DNA Methylation in Newborns: An Epigenome-Wide Meta-Analysis.

Background: Prenatal exposure to air pollution has been associated with childhood respiratory disease and other adverse outcomes. Epigenetics is a suggested link between exposures and health outcomes.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate associations between prenatal exposure to particulate matter (PM) with diameter [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) or [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) and DNA methylation in newborns and children.

The Role of Socioeconomic Status in the Association of Lung Function and Air Pollution-A Pooled Analysis of Three Adult ESCAPE Cohorts.

Ambient air pollution is a leading environmental risk factor and its broad spectrum of adverse health effects includes a decrease in lung function. Socioeconomic status (SES) is known to be associated with both air pollution exposure and respiratory function. This study assesses the role of SES either as confounder or effect modifier of the association between ambient air pollution and lung function.

Occupational exposures and incidence of chronic bronchitis and related symptoms over two decades: the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

Objectives: Chronic bronchitis (CB) is an important chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related phenotype, with distinct clinical features and prognostic implications. Occupational exposures have been previously associated with increased risk of CB but few studies have examined this association prospectively using objective exposure assessment. We examined the effect of occupational exposures on CB incidence in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

Epigenome-wide meta-analysis of DNA methylation and childhood asthma.

Background: Epigenetic mechanisms, including methylation, can contribute to childhood asthma. Identifying DNA methylation profiles in asthmatic patients can inform disease pathogenesis.

Objective: We sought to identify differential DNA methylation in newborns and children related to childhood asthma.

Green and blue spaces and physical functioning in older adults: Longitudinal analyses of the Whitehall II study.

There is increasing evidence of the health benefits of exposure to natural environments, including green and blue spaces. The association with physical functioning and its decline at older age remains to be explored. The aim of the present study was to investigate the longitudinal association between the natural environment and the decline in physical functioning in older adults.

Residential air pollution does not modify the positive association between physical activity and lung function in current smokers in the ECRHS study.

Background: Very few studies have examined whether a long-term beneficial effect of physical activity on lung function can be influenced by living in polluted urban areas.

Objective: We assessed whether annual average residential concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO) and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters < 2.5 μm (PM) and <10 μm (PM) modify the effect of physical activity on lung function among never- (N = 2801) and current (N = 1719) smokers in the multi-center European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

Residential Surrounding Greenness and Cognitive Decline: A 10-Year Follow-up of the Whitehall II Cohort.

Background: Evidence on beneficial associations of green space with cognitive function in older adults is very scarce and mainly limited to cross-sectional studies.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between long-term residential surrounding greenness and cognitive decline.

Methods: This longitudinal study was based on three waves of data from the Whitehall II cohort, providing a 10-y follow-up (1997-1999 to 2007-2009) of 6,506 participants (45-68 y old) from the United Kingdom.

Genetic regulation of methylation and IL1RL1-a protein levels in asthma.

() is an important asthma gene. (Epi)genetic regulation of protein expression has not been established. We assessed the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), methylation and serum IL1RL1-a protein levels, and aimed to identify causal pathways in asthma.

The EASI model: A first integrative computational approximation to the natural history of COPD.

The natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still not well understood. Traditionally believed to be a self-inflicted disease by smoking, now we know that not all smokers develop COPD, that other inhaled pollutants different from cigarette smoke can also cause it, and that abnormal lung development can also lead to COPD in adulthood. Likewise, the inflammatory response that characterizes COPD varies significantly between patients, and not all of them perceive symptoms (mostly breathlessness) similarly.

The emerging landscape of dynamic DNA methylation in early childhood.

Background: DNA methylation has been found to associate with disease, aging and environmental exposure, but it is unknown how genome, environment and disease influence DNA methylation dynamics in childhood.

Results: By analysing 538 paired DNA blood samples from children at birth and at 4-5 years old and 726 paired samples from children at 4 and 8 years old from four European birth cohorts using the Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450 k chip, we have identified 14,150 consistent age-differential methylation sites (a-DMSs) at epigenome-wide significance of p < 1.14 × 10.

Specific IgE and IgG measured by the MeDALL allergen-chip depend on allergen and route of exposure: The EGEA study.

Background: The nature of allergens and route and dose of exposure may affect the natural development of IgE and IgG responses.

Objective: We sought to investigate the natural IgE and IgG responses toward a large panel of respiratory and food allergens in subjects exposed to different respiratory allergen loads.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in 340 adults of the EGEA (Epidemiological study of the Genetics and Environment of Asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and atopy) (170 with and 170 without asthma) cohort.

Lack of Correlation Between Pulmonary and Systemic Inflammation Markers in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Simultaneous, Two-Compartmental Analysis.

Introduction: The origin of systemic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients remains to be defined, but one of the most widely accepted hypothesis is the 'spill over' of inflammatory mediators from the lung to the circulation.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between pulmonary and systemic inflammation in COPD quantifying several inflammatory markers in sputum and serum determined simultaneously.

Methodology: Correlations between various inflammatory variables (TNF-α, IL6, IL8) in sputum and serum were evaluated in 133 patients from the PAC-COPD cohort study.

Cleaning products and short-term respiratory effects among female cleaners with asthma.

Objective: We evaluated the short-term effects of exposure to cleaning products on lung function and respiratory symptoms among professional cleaning women.

Methods: Twenty-one women with current asthma and employed as professional cleaners participated in a 15-day panel study. During 312 person-days of data collection, participants self-reported their use of cleaning products and respiratory symptoms in daily diaries and recorded their forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) three times per day using a handheld spirometer.

A systematic review of socioeconomic position in relation to asthma and allergic diseases.

The role of socioeconomic position (SEP) in the development of asthma and allergies is unclear, with some pointing to the risks of low SEP and other research pointing in the direction of higher SEP being associated with higher prevalence rates. The aim of this systematic review is to clarify associations between SEP and the prevalence of asthma and allergies. Out of 4407 records identified, 183 were included in the analysis.

Personalized respiratory medicine: exploring the horizon, addressing the issues. Summary of a BRN-AJRCCM workshop held in Barcelona on June 12, 2014.

This Pulmonary Perspective summarizes the content and main conclusions of an international workshop on personalized respiratory medicine coorganized by the Barcelona Respiratory Network ( www.brn.cat ) and the AJRCCM in June 2014.

A systematic review on the development of asthma and allergic diseases in relation to international immigration: the leading role of the environment confirmed.

Background: The prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases is rising worldwide. Evidence on potential causal pathways of asthma and allergies is growing, but findings have been contradictory, particularly on the interplay between allergic diseases and understudied social determinants of health like migration status. This review aimed at providing evidence for the association between migration status and asthma and allergies, and to explore the mechanisms between migration status and the development of asthma and allergies.

Positive health effects of the natural outdoor environment in typical populations in different regions in Europe (PHENOTYPE): a study programme protocol.

Introduction: Growing evidence suggests that close contact with nature brings benefits to human health and well-being, but the proposed mechanisms are still not well understood and the associations with health remain uncertain. The Positive Health Effects of the Natural Outdoor environment in Typical Populations in different regions in Europe (PHENOTYPE) project investigates the interconnections between natural outdoor environments and better human health and well-being.

Aims And Methods: The PHENOTYPE project explores the proposed underlying mechanisms at work (stress reduction/restorative function, physical activity, social interaction, exposure to environmental hazards) and examines the associations with health outcomes for different population groups.

Genetic heterogeneity of asthma phenotypes identified by a clustering approach.

The aim of the study was to identify genetic variants associated with refined asthma phenotypes enabling multiple features of the disease to be taken into account. Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied in 3001 adults ever having asthma recruited in the frame of three epidemiological surveys (the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS), the Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung Disease in Adults (SAPALDIA) and the Epidemiological Study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA)). 14 personal and phenotypic characteristics, gathered from questionnaires and clinical examination, were used.