Polymorphisms in inflammation genes, tobacco smoke and furred pets and wheeze in children.

Persistent wheeze in childhood is associated with airway inflammation. The present study investigated relationships between polymorphisms in inflammatory genes, exposure to tobacco smoke and furred pets and risk of recurrent wheeze in children. Within a birth cohort of 101,042 children we identified 1111 eighteen month old cases with recurrent wheeze and 735 wheeze-free controls among 11942 children recruited in the Copenhagen area.

Building-related symptoms and inflammatory potency of dust from office buildings.

Unlabelled: The aim was to investigate the association between building-related symptoms (BRS) in office buildings and the inflammatory potency of dust (PD). Furthermore, the association between dust potency and various building characteristics was investigated. Occupants of 22 office buildings received a retrospective questionnaire about BRS (2301 respondents).

Indoor climate, psychosocial work environment and symptoms in open-plan offices.

To study the indoor climate, the psychosocial work environment and occupants' symptoms in offices a cross-sectional questionnaire survey was made in 11 naturally and 11 mechanically ventilated office buildings. Nine of the buildings had mainly cellular offices; five of the buildings had mainly open-plan offices, whereas eight buildings had a mixture of cellular, multi-person and open-plan offices. A total of 2301 occupants, corresponding to a response rate of 72%, completed a retrospective questionnaire.

Inflammatory potency of dust from the indoor environment and correlation to content of NAGase and fungi.

The aim of this study was to analyse the contribution of microbial factors to the inflammatory potency of dust (PD). Floor dust was sampled three times from 12 rooms in two schools. The potency of floor dust was measured as interleukin-8 secretion from the lung epithelial cell line A549 after exposure to dust.

Inflammatory potential of dust from schools and building related symptoms.

Aims: To test whether the inflammatory potential of dust samples might be used to differentiate schools with high and low prevalence of building related symptoms (BRS) among the occupants.

Methods: Ten schools with high prevalence of BRS and 10 schools with low prevalence were selected. Dust collected from floors, horizontal surfaces, and exhaust outlets was tested at five concentrations on the lung epithelial cell line A549.