Publications by authors named "Patricia C Fulkerson"
Objective: Understanding compliance with COVID-19 mitigation recommendations is critical for informing efforts to contain future infectious disease outbreaks. This study tested the hypothesis that higher levels of worry about COVID-19 illness among household caregivers would predict lower (a) levels of overall and discretionary social exposure activities and (b) rates of household SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Methods: Data were drawn from a surveillance study of households with children ( = 1913) recruited from 12 U.
Article Synopsis
- The HEROS Study is a prospective, multicity research effort conducted from May 2020 to February 2021, aimed at understanding risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission, particularly among children and those with asthma or allergies.
- The study utilized remote methods to enroll participants, who completed weekly surveys and nasal sampling, allowing researchers to gather data without in-person visits during the pandemic.
- A total of 5598 individuals were involved, ensuring a comprehensive household-based analysis of infection and transmission dynamics related to COVID-19.
Article Synopsis
- Peanut allergy affects 1 to 3% of children in Western countries and is on the rise in Africa and Asia, typically developing early and persisting into adulthood.
- Peanut allergy is the leading cause of food-related anaphylaxis, resulting in severe health risks and significant impacts on the lives of patients and their families.
- Previous treatment largely focused on avoiding peanuts and having injectable epinephrine on hand for emergencies due to accidental exposure.
Article Synopsis
- - The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 prompted urgent public health responses, leading the NIAID to fund studies tracking COVID-19 across various demographics and populations.
- - Due to inconsistent data collection methods, NIAID aimed to create a standardized reporting tool to harmonize data from 58 cohort studies conducted between February 2020 and June 2021, focusing on shared epidemiologic elements.
- - The results include key insights on the studies' demographics, geographic locations, and scientific contributions, illustrating the importance of common data elements for effective public health decision-making and identifying research gaps.
Article Synopsis
- Food allergies (FA) and atopic dermatitis (AD) often appear in infants, making it crucial to understand their causes for better prevention and treatment strategies.
- The SunBEAm birth cohort, funded by NIAID, is a multi-center study in the US that follows pregnant couples and their newborns, aiming to enroll 2,500 infants to explore environmental and biological factors influencing FA and AD.
- The cohort will collect a diverse range of samples and data, allowing researchers to examine the mechanisms behind early allergic reactions, focusing specifically on common allergens like egg, milk, and peanut.
Article Synopsis
- The HEROS study was a multi-city, 6-month research project conducted from May 2020 to February 2021, aiming to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission, particularly among children and people with asthma and allergies.
- It utilized remote methods to enroll and monitor participants, including weekly surveys and biweekly nasal samples, ensuring safety and compliance during the pandemic without any in-person interactions.
- A total of 5,598 individuals were enrolled in the study, including children and their caregivers, showcasing a successful model for conducting large-scale observational research during challenging circumstances.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in households with children, specifically focusing on whether asthma and other allergic conditions influence infection rates and household transmission.
- Over a 6-month period involving 1,394 households and 4,142 participants, researchers conducted biweekly nasal swabs and surveys, revealing a 25.8% infection probability within households, with similar rates across children, teenagers, and adults.
- The findings indicated that self-reported asthma and upper respiratory allergies didn't increase infection risk, while food allergies were linked to lower risk; however, a higher body mass index correlated to increased infection risk.
Article Synopsis
- Eosinophils negatively impact the antiviral response of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) by reducing the secretion of IFN-α in response to rhinovirus (RV) exposure, making asthma exacerbations worse.
- Exposure to eosinophils inhibited IFN-α secretion in pDCs, with specific eosinophil-derived factors like neurotoxin and TGF-β contributing to this effect.
- Treatment with anti-IL-5/5Rα therapy improved pDC antiviral function and increased IFN-α secretion, indicating it could be effective in managing respiratory infections related to eosinophilic asthma.
Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Hypereosinophilic Syndrome.
J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
May 2022
Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a diverse group of disorders characterized by peripheral blood eosinophilia of 1.5 × 10/L (1,500/μL) or greater with evidence of end-organ damage attributable to eosinophilia and no other cause of the end-organ damage. The HES is rare, especially in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpression of Ikaros family transcription factor IKZF3 (Aiolos) increases during murine eosinophil lineage commitment and maturation. Herein, we investigated Aiolos expression and function in mature human and murine eosinophils. Murine eosinophils deficient in Aiolos demonstrated gene expression changes in pathways associated with granulocyte-mediated immunity, chemotaxis, degranulation, ERK/MAPK signaling, and extracellular matrix organization; these genes had ATAC peaks within 1 kB of the TSS that were enriched for Aiolos-binding motifs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEosinophils develop in the bone marrow from hematopoietic progenitors into mature cells capable of a plethora of immunomodulatory roles via the choreographed process of eosinophilopoiesis. However, the gene regulatory elements and transcription factors (TFs) orchestrating this process remain largely unknown. The potency and resulting diversity fundamental to an eosinophil's complex immunomodulatory functions and tissue specialization likely result from dynamic epigenetic regulation of the eosinophil genome, a dynamic eosinophil regulome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: A minimally invasive biomarker to monitor disease activity is one of the greatest unmet clinical needs of the pediatric eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) population. We aimed to determine whether circulating eosinophil progenitors (EoPs) could be used as a biomarker to identify pediatric patients with active EoE.
Methods: In a prospective observational study, peripheral blood samples, symptom history, and laboratory data were collected from pediatric patients undergoing endoscopy for evaluation of EoE on dietary therapy at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Background: Little is known about the endoscopic and histologic findings of non-esophageal eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGID).
Aim: To characterize the presenting endoscopic and histologic findings in patients with eosinophilic gastritis (EG), eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE), and eosinophilic colitis (EC) at diagnosis and 6 months after initiating the treatment.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at 6 US centers associated with the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Researchers.
The Association of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Inflammatory Markers in Hospitalized Children.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
November 2019
Article Synopsis
- Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is linked to changes in cytokine levels in hospitalized children, with a focus on measuring inflammatory markers and cotinine in saliva.
- A study involving 112 nonsmoking children found that those with higher cotinine levels, indicating more ETS exposure, exhibited elevated IL-1β levels, especially when cotinine levels exceeded 5 ng/mL.
- Results suggest that higher ETS exposure can enhance pro-inflammatory immune responses in children, potentially hindering their immune function and recovery from illnesses.
Pediatric Hypereosinophilia: Characteristics, Clinical Manifestations, and Diagnoses.
J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract
October 2020
Background: Eosinophilia is associated with various conditions, including allergic, infectious, and neoplastic disorders. The diagnostic differential is broad, and data on hypereosinophilia in pediatric patients are limited.
Objective: The objectives of this study were to identify cases of hypereosinophilia in a tertiary pediatric medical center, determine clinical characteristics and disease associations, and estimate the incidence of hypereosinophilia in the hospital and geographic populations.
Objectives: The literature related to eosinophilic gastritis (EG), gastroenteritis (EGE), and colitis (EC) is limited. We aimed to characterize rates of diagnosis, clinical features, and initial treatments for patients with EG, EGE, and EC.
Methods: In this retrospective study, data were collected from 6 centers in the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Researchers from 2005 to 2016.
Blood eosinophil progenitors (EoPs) correlate with tissue pathology during active eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), providing additional evidence for blood EoP levels as a biomarker for disease activity and suggesting a role for EoPs in EoE pathogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypereosinophilia (HE) is currently defined by a peripheral blood absolute eosinophil count (AEC) of ≥1,500 cells/microL. Although mild blood eosinophilia (AEC 500-1,500 cells/microL) is observed relatively frequently within the pediatric population, persistent HE is uncommon and should prompt additional clinical evaluation. While the clinical manifestations and underlying etiologies of HE in adults have been well-characterized, there is a paucity of data on HE in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChromatin Preparation from Murine Eosinophils for Genome-Wide Analyses.
Methods Mol Biol
February 2019
Article Synopsis
- Dynamic gene expression guides blood cell formation and differentiation, with chromatin signatures helping to identify regulatory elements like enhancers.
- There is limited knowledge about the genetic factors governing eosinophil development due to the complexities of studying these uncommon cells.
- The text outlines methods for isolating mature eosinophils from mouse bone marrow and preparing chromatin for advanced studies, which will enhance our understanding of the gene regulatory networks involved in eosinophil development.
Article Synopsis
- The surface phenotype and activation state of eosinophils (Eos) change after they enter tissues and interact with inflammatory cytokines, indicating tissue-specific roles in organ health.
- Understanding how different Eos subsets acquire their tissue-specific characteristics is a significant goal for researchers in the field.
- The study utilized publicly available gene expression data to analyze Eos gene expression in mice, revealing that cultured Eos differ from native ones and emphasizing how local tissue environments influence Eos gene expression even in stable conditions.
Eosinophil Development, Disease Involvement, and Therapeutic Suppression.
Adv Immunol
September 2019
Article Synopsis
- Eosinophils are immune cells with distinct structural features, produced in the bone marrow under tight regulatory control by transcription factors that ensure their proper development and granule formation.
- The recruitment of eosinophils to tissues can lead to inflammation and damage in eosinophil-associated disorders, and once they leave the bone marrow, they don't multiply.
- Treatments like anti-IL-5 are showing promise in managing eosinophilic disorders, particularly severe asthma, and ongoing research aims to deepen our understanding of eosinophil biology to improve diagnosis and treatment.
Article Synopsis
- Eosinophil-associated diseases (EADs) are rare disorders marked by the presence of eosinophils in tissues and blood, leading to various health issues, but research faces challenges in models and methods.
- A review of eosinophil research since 2012 highlighted gaps in basic and clinical studies, emphasizing the need for better understanding of eosinophil biology, phenotypes, and biomarkers.
- The need for improved tools in clinical trials, including better scoring systems and patient-reported outcomes, was stressed to enhance research collaboration and drug development in the field.
Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Endotypes: Are We Closer to Predicting Treatment Response?
Clin Rev Allergy Immunol
August 2018
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, food antigen-driven gastrointestinal disease that is characterized by esophageal eosinophilia. Currently, there are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatments for EoE, but the two most commonly prescribed therapies include topical corticosteroids and food elimination diets. Clinical trials have revealed a significant proportion of cases that are resistant to topical corticosteroids, and although we define EoE as a food antigen-driven disease, not all patients with EoE respond to elimination diets or even elemental diets.
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