Project summary
Purpose
Objectives | Work
Packages
This project will determine whether there is a link between exposure of
the unborn child to environmental pollutants whilst in the womb and the
development of allergies in early childhood.
Across Europe there is an increase in the incidence of allergy in childhood
which may be linked with environmental factors as our society has become
more industrialised. Allergies represent a growing socio-economic burden
despite the relatively low mortality resulting from them. The effects
may linger beyond childhood well into adult life resulting in an economically
detrimental loss of working days due to allergy-based illnesses.
The public perception is of a link between pollution and rising incidence
of allergies, respiratory diseases and cancer, but the scientific evidence
needs to be obtained and assessed in an effective manner. This project
will investigate the links between the incidence of early childhood
allergy, maternal exposure to pollutants and the likely exposure of
the unborn child.
More understanding of the relationship between environmental pollutants
and development of childhood allergy and the pathways involved will
enable the development of suitable strategies to combat this problem.
These strategies could range from improved treatments and better nutrition
to reduction in pollution as a means of improving the environment. For
maximum effectiveness, such measures will need to be implemented at
a European level. The availability of a group of suitable subjects across
Europe will provide an invaluable opportunity for health status follow-up
in future years, especially as clinical manifestation of allergy may
occur at a later stage in childhood than encompassed by the current
project.
Objectives
During
pregnancy, the placenta sustains and protects the unborn child. Many
foreign substances can transfer across the placenta to reach the developing
child. Contamination of the placenta with environmental pollutants provides
an indicator of the individual exposure of the mother and may affect
the development and health of the child both in the womb and during
early childhood.
The specific objectives are two-fold:
- to determine whether contamination of the placenta by selected pollutants
alters the immune response of the children resulting in development
of allergies
- to determine the risk factors that may link exposure in the womb
and during early childhood to the onset of allergy
A series of workpackages
has been devised to achieve these objectives over a 3 year period which
commenced in March 2001:
- Recruitment of subjects and evaluation of atopic status for randomisation
purposes based on specific IgE testing.
- Measurement of maternal environmental exposure to selected chemical
pollutants by analysis of placental tissue from mothers living in
areas of different pollution levels.
- Determination of risk factors for development of allergy involving
prenatal exposure, placental and newborn parameters using suitable
questionnaires.
- Investigation of the relationship between placental contamination
and immune parameters in placental tissue, cord blood and peripheral
blood samples and incidence of atopy in early childhood. This will
include measurements of placental oxidative enzyme status; cord and
peripheral blood cell proliferation and Th1/Th2 cytokine responses
of peripheral and cord blood mononuclear cells to food and inhalant
antigens; Th1 and Th2 cytokine responses of placental trophoblast
cells; specific IgE levels in cord blood serum.
- Determination of the extent of uptake and transfer of selected chemical
pollutants across the placenta in order to correlate likely fetal
uptake with known maternal exposure.
- Investigation of the relationship between postnatal risk factors
and allergy development in children in the first year of life using
questionnaires, clinical examination and specific IgE determination
in peripheral blood sera.
- Assessment of child pollution exposure.
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