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.

Home and school pollutant exposure, respiratory outcomes, and influence of historical redlining.

Background: The discriminatory and racist policy of historical redlining in the United States during the 1930s played a role in perpetuating contemporary environmental health disparities.

Objective: Our objectives were to determine associations between home and school pollutant exposure (fine particulate matter [PM], NO) and respiratory outcomes (Composite Asthma Severity Index, lung function) among school-aged children with asthma and examine whether associations differed between children who resided and/or attended school in historically redlined compared to non-redlined neighborhoods.

Methods: Children ages 6 to 17 with moderate-to-severe asthma (N = 240) from 9 US cities were included.

Rhinorrhea and watery eyes in infancy and risk of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in school-age children.

Increased parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity is associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) inattentive symptoms, but not hyperactive-impulsive symptoms, and may contribute to inattentive subtype etiology. Guided by prior work linking infant rhinorrhea and watery eyes without a cold (RWWC) to PNS dysregulation, we examined associations between infant RWWC and childhood ADHD symptoms in a longitudinal cohort of Black and Latinx children living in the context of economic disadvantage (N = 301 youth: 158 females, 143 males). Infant RWWC predicted higher inattentive (relative risk [RR] 2.

In Utero Exposure to Alcohol and Tobacco and Electroencephalogram Power During Childhood.

Importance: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) are risk factors associated with adverse neurobehavioral and cognitive outcomes.

Objective: To quantify long-term associations of PAE and PTE with brain activity in early and middle childhood via electroencephalography (EEG).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study included participants enrolled in the Safe Passage Study (August 2007 to January 2015), from which a subset of 649 participants were followed up in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program.

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.

Neonatal rhinorrhea, heart rate variability, and childhood exercise-induced wheeze.

Background: There is increasing evidence linking infant rhinorrhea to school-age exercise-induced wheeze (EIW) via a parasympathetic nervous system pathway. The ratio of the root mean square of successive differences in heart beats (RMSSD) measured in quiet sleep versus active sleep (RMSSD) is a novel biomarker in asthma.

Objective: We tested the hypotheses that (1) neonatal rhinorrhea predicts childhood EIW independent of other neonatal respiratory symptoms, (2) neonatal RMSSD predicts childhood EIW, and (3) RMSSD mediates the association between neonatal rhinorrhea and childhood EIW.

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.

Early-life risk factors for development of asthma from 8 to 28 years of age: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The objective was to estimate the incidence rate of asthma from age 8 to 28 years and evaluate early-life risk factors for asthma onset at different ages.

Methods: In 1996, within the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies, a cohort of 3430 schoolchildren (97% of invited) was recruited at age 8 years to a prospective study about asthma. The cohort was followed annually from age 8 to 19 years and at 28 years by questionnaire surveys (67% of the original cohort participated).

Poor early childhood growth is associated with impaired lung function: Evidence from a Ghanaian pregnancy cohort.

Objectives: Nearly 40% of African children under 5 are stunted. We leveraged the Ghana randomized air pollution and health study (GRAPHS) cohort to examine whether poorer growth was associated with worse childhood lung function.

Study Design: GRAPHS measured infant weight and length at birth and 3, 6, 9,12 months, and 4 years of age.

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.

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.

Personal Exposure to Black Carbon at School and Levels of Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide in New York City.

Background: Schools are often located near traffic sources, leading to high levels of exposure to traffic-related air pollutants, including black carbon (BC). Thus, the school environment could play in a significant role in the adverse respiratory health of children.

Objectives: Our objective was to determine associations between personal BC levels at school and airway inflammation [i.

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.

α-Gal specific-IgE prevalence and levels in Ecuador and Kenya: Relation to diet, parasites, and IgG.

Background: IgE to α-Gal is a cause of mammalian meat allergy and has been linked to tick bites in North America, Australia, and Eurasia. Reports from the developing world indicate that α-Gal sensitization is prevalent but has been little investigated.

Objective: We sought evidence for the cause(s) of α-Gal sensitization and lack of reported meat allergy among children in less developed settings in Ecuador and Kenya.

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.

Rice Consumption and Subclinical Lung Disease in US Adults: Observational Evidence From the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Rice accumulates arsenic, an established lung toxicant. Little is known about the association of rice consumption with arsenic-related health effects, particularly interstitial lung disease. Between 2000 and 2002, 6,814 white, black, Hispanic, and Chinese adults from 6 US cities were enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

The Role of Environmental Controls in Managing Asthma in Lower-Income Urban Communities.

Children living in lower-income urban communities are at much greater risk of developing asthma, going to the emergency department for an asthma attack and being hospitalized for asthma than children living in upper- and middle-income communities. For many asthmatic children living in urban communities, especially those with greater morbidity, the allergic pathway is important in the etiology of the disease. The stages of developing allergic disease can be divided into the onset of allergic sensitization, development of allergic disease and subsequent exacerbations, and it is useful to consider the relevance of interventions at each of these stages.

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.

Correction: Soot and the city: Evaluating the impacts of Clean Heat policies on indoor/outdoor air quality in New York City apartments.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.