The prenatal and postnatal effects of air pollution on asthma in children with atopic dermatitis.

Objectives: Air pollution is strongly associated with asthma, but has not been determined to induce new-onset asthma development in children with atopic dermatitis (AD).

Working Hypothesis: To assess whether prenatal/postnatal exposure to air pollutants triggers new-onset asthma development in children with AD.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Patient-subject Selection: Data of patients
Methodology: The monthly average concentration of air pollutants for 1, 3, and 5 years before the index date, and 3, 6, and 9 months prenatally were analyzed and further stratified by age, immunoglobulin (Ig) E, and the percentage of eosinophil and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP).

Results: Postnatal exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM , PM ), sulfur dioxide (SO ), ozone (O ), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), nitric dioxide (NO ), and NO , and prenatal exposure to PM , PM , SO , NO, and NO were significantly higher in the asthma group than in the non-asthma group. Patients having IgE above 100 IU/ml and ECP less than 24 ng/ml were significantly influenced by postnatal exposure to PM and PM , especially CO, to develop asthma, and those having an eosinophil count >3% were significantly influenced by prenatal exposure to PM , especially SO , NO, and NO .

Conclusions: Prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution have an association with asthma development in AD patients.