Increased Heart Rate Variability Response Among Infants with Reported Rhinorrhea and Watery Eyes: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Previously, we found that reported infant rhinorrhea and watery eyes without a cold (RWWC) predicted school age exercise-induced wheeze, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. These findings were independent of allergic sensitization, and we theorized that increased parasympathetic tone underlay the association. We also reported that increased heart-rate variability (HRV) in infants predicted wheeze in 2-3 year-olds.

Report of prenatal maternal demoralization and material hardship and infant rhinorrhea and watery eyes.

Background: Previously, we found that reported infant rhinorrhea and watery eyes without a cold (RWWC) predicted school age exercise-induced wheezing, emergency department visits, and respiratory-related hospitalizations for asthma. These findings appeared independent of infant wheezing and allergy. Overall, we theorize that prenatal material hardship and psychosocial distress can induce infant dysregulation in the autonomic nervous system leading to infant RWWC and school age exercise-induced wheezing.

Air pollution, urgent asthma medical visits and the modifying effect of neighborhood asthma prevalence.

Background: Social and environmental stressors may modify associations between environmental pollutants and asthma symptoms. We examined if neighborhood asthma prevalence (higher: HAPN vs. lower: LAPN), a surrogate for underlying risk factors for asthma, modified the relationship between pollutants and urgent asthma visits.

Infant rhinitis and watery eyes predict school-age exercise-induced wheeze, emergency department visits and respiratory-related hospitalizations.

Background: Rhinitis and conjunctivitis are often linked to asthma development through an allergic pathway. However, runny nose and watery eyes can result from nonallergic mechanisms. These mechanisms can also underlie exercise-induced wheeze (EIW), which has been associated with urgent medical visits for asthma, independent of other indicators of asthma severity or control.

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.

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.

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.

Exercise-induced wheeze, urgent medical visits, and neighborhood asthma prevalence.

Objective: Exercise-induced wheeze (EIW) may identify a distinct population among asthmatics and give insight into asthma morbidity etiology. The prevalence of pediatric asthma and associated urgent medical visits varies greatly by neighborhood in New York City and is highest in low-income neighborhoods. Although increased asthma severity might contribute to the disparities in urgent medical visits, when controlling for health insurance coverage, we previously observed no differences in clinical measures of severity between asthmatic children living in neighborhoods with lower (3%-9%) versus higher (11%-19%) asthma prevalence.

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.

Surveillance of Fungal Allergic Sensitization Using the Fluorescent Halogen Immunoassay.

OBJECTIVE: Conidia derived from a small number of common fungal genera are widely accepted as the etiological agents responsible for fungal allergic sensitization. The contribution of fungal conidia, spores, airborne hyphae, and subcellular fragments from other uncharacterized fungal genera remains unclear. In this proof-of-concept study, we examined the composition of mycoaerosols that atopic women were exposed and sensitized to in their own indoor environment using the fluorescent halogen immunoassay (fHIA).

The New York City Puerto Rican asthma project: study design, methods, and baseline results.

Objective: We examined asthma risk factors among 274 Puerto Rican children born in New York to atopic mothers.

Methods: We prospectively followed the cohort to measure aeroallergens in their homes and assess allergic sensitization. Baseline data are presented.