TY - JOUR
T1 - Mouse allergen is the major allergen of public health relevance in Baltimore City
AU - Ahluwalia, Sharon K.
AU - Peng, Roger D.
AU - Breysse, Patrick N.
AU - Diette, Gregory B.
AU - Curtin-Brosnan, Jean
AU - Aloe, Charles
AU - Matsui, Elizabeth C.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences ( P50ES015903, P01ES018176 ), the Environmental Protection Agency ( R832139 ), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( R01AI070630 and U01AI083238 ), and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine General Clinical Research Center (grant no. M01-RR00052 ) from the National Center for Research Resources/National Institutes of Health .
Funding Information:
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: R. D. Peng has received royalties from Springer Publishing. G. B. Diette has been supported by one or more grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/Environmental Protection Agency and has consultancy arrangements with GlaxoSmithKline and Fenzian. E. C. Matsui has been supported by one or more grants from the NIH and has received a Phadia Research Form Award. The rest of the authors declare that they have no relevant conflicts of interest.
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - Background: Cockroach and mouse allergens have both been implicated as causes in inner-city asthma morbidity in multicenter studies, but whether both allergens are clinically relevant within specific inner-city communities is unclear. Objective: Our study aimed to identify relevant allergens in Baltimore City. Methods: One hundred forty-four children (5-17 years old) with asthma underwent skin prick tests at baseline and had clinical data collected at baseline and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Home settled dust samples were collected at the same time points for quantification of indoor allergens. Participants were grouped based on their sensitization and exposure status to each allergen. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and serum total IgE level. Results: Forty-one percent were mouse sensitized/exposed, and 41% were cockroach sensitized/exposed based on bedroom floor exposure data. Mouse sensitization/exposure was associated with acute care visits, decreased FEV 1/forced vital capacity percentage values, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide levels, and bronchodilator reversibility. Cockroach sensitization/ exposure was only associated with acute care visits and bronchodilator reversibility when exposure was defined by using bedroom floor allergen levels. Mouse-specific IgE levels were associated with poor asthma health across a range of outcomes, whereas cockroach-specific IgE levels were not. The relationships between asthma outcomes and mouse allergen were independent of cockroach allergen. Although sensitization/exposure to both mouse and cockroach was generally associated with worse asthma, mouse sensitization/exposure was the primary contributor to these relationships. Conclusions: In a community with high levels of both mouse and cockroach allergens, mouse allergen appears to be more strongly and consistently associated with poor asthma outcomes than cockroach allergen. Community-level asthma interventions in Baltimore should prioritize reducing mouse allergen exposure.
AB - Background: Cockroach and mouse allergens have both been implicated as causes in inner-city asthma morbidity in multicenter studies, but whether both allergens are clinically relevant within specific inner-city communities is unclear. Objective: Our study aimed to identify relevant allergens in Baltimore City. Methods: One hundred forty-four children (5-17 years old) with asthma underwent skin prick tests at baseline and had clinical data collected at baseline and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Home settled dust samples were collected at the same time points for quantification of indoor allergens. Participants were grouped based on their sensitization and exposure status to each allergen. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and serum total IgE level. Results: Forty-one percent were mouse sensitized/exposed, and 41% were cockroach sensitized/exposed based on bedroom floor exposure data. Mouse sensitization/exposure was associated with acute care visits, decreased FEV 1/forced vital capacity percentage values, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide levels, and bronchodilator reversibility. Cockroach sensitization/ exposure was only associated with acute care visits and bronchodilator reversibility when exposure was defined by using bedroom floor allergen levels. Mouse-specific IgE levels were associated with poor asthma health across a range of outcomes, whereas cockroach-specific IgE levels were not. The relationships between asthma outcomes and mouse allergen were independent of cockroach allergen. Although sensitization/exposure to both mouse and cockroach was generally associated with worse asthma, mouse sensitization/exposure was the primary contributor to these relationships. Conclusions: In a community with high levels of both mouse and cockroach allergens, mouse allergen appears to be more strongly and consistently associated with poor asthma outcomes than cockroach allergen. Community-level asthma interventions in Baltimore should prioritize reducing mouse allergen exposure.
KW - Inner-city asthma
KW - childhood asthma
KW - cockroach allergen
KW - indoor allergens
KW - mouse allergen
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84884907162&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84884907162&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.05.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.05.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 23810154
AN - SCOPUS:84884907162
SN - 0091-6749
VL - 132
SP - 830-835.e2
JO - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
JF - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
IS - 4
ER -