Moisture damage in home associates with systemic inflammation in children

Abstract

This study investigated the association between confirmed moisture damage in homes and systemic subclinical inflammation in children. Home inspections were performed in homes of 291 children at the age of 6 years. Subclinical inflammation at the age of 6 years was assessed by measuring the circulating levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocytes in peripheral blood and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). Proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were measured in unstimulated, and in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin (PI), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or peptidoglycan (PPG)-stimulated whole blood. Major moisture damage in the child's main living areas (living room, kitchen, or child's bedroom) and moisture damage with mold in the bathroom were associated with increased levels of CRP and stimulated production of several proinflammatory cytokines. There were no significant associations between moisture damage/visible mold and leukocyte or FeNO values. The results suggest that moisture damage or mold in home may be associated with increased systemic subclinical inflammation and proinflammatory cytokine responsiveness.

Early age exposure to moisture damage and systemic inflammation at the age of 6 years

“…All statistical analyses were performed using the statistical software R, ). The present analyses had 78% power with 5% level of significance to detect an odds ratio of 3.1, as earlier reported in a cross-sectional study 12 comparing prevalence of high CRP among children living in homes with and without major moisture damage.…”

“…17 In contrast to these results from prospective studies, cross-sectional study set among the same study subjects as with the present investigation found a significant association between major moisture damage in child's main living areas at 6 years of age and elevated circulating CRP levels at same age. 12 In addition, higher total fungal contamination in settled dust samples in Swedish day care centers assessed by quantitative PCR was significantly associated with elevated levels of CRP in 62 female teachers. 18 This suggests that immediate effects of exposure to moisture damage are more relevant in relation to systemic subclinical inflammation; however, the importance of early age exposure over a longer time period needs to be confirmed in larger study sets.…”

“…12 In short, heparinized and diluted whole blood was stimu- The detection limits were 2.3 pg/mL for IL-1β, 0.7 pg/mL for TNFa, and 1.6 pg/mL for IL-6 cytokines. In the analyses, non-detected cytokine levels were set to detection level and standardized with leukocytes.…”

“…Unfortunately, in total, 60 children had to be excluded from the cytokine data as their cell cultures contained serum which was mislabeled by the manufacturer and did not meet the standards (FBS Gold, PAA Laboratories, Pasching, Austria). 12 In this study, 35 children with data on home inspection were excluded from the statistical analyses of cytokines due to mislabeled serum.…”

“…[9][10][11] We have recently shown in the present cohort that current inspectorobserved major moisture damage in the child's main living areas (in the living room, child's bedroom, and/or kitchen) was associated with systemic inflammation in 6-year-old children. 12 However, it is not known whether early exposure to moisture damage and mold can have long-term effects on the systemic inflammation, immunologic responsiveness and thus contribute to the development of inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether exposure to moisture damage or mold early in life is prospectively associated with subclinical systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocytes) and immune responsiveness ex vivo (cytokines) in 6-year-old children.…”