Origin of Allergy From In Utero Exposures to the Postnatal Environment

Abstract

As the incidence of atopic conditions continues to increase, emphasis has been placed on understanding the origin of allergy with hope that prevention measures can be achieved. The perinatal environment is important for this understanding, given that both the immune system and microbiome start forming prenatally. Maternal exposure can greatly impact on fetal health. Additionally, the dysfunctional epithelial barrier is influential in allowing allergens and irritants to penetrate the skin or mucosa, leading to the release of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators to drive type 2 tissue inflammation and the onset of allergy. There are numerous factors related to skin, airway, and gut epithelial barriers dysfunction, and genetic predispositions are also present. Comprehensive birth cohort studies and further mechanistic studies will be keys to understanding the origin of allergy.

Early life exposure to antibiotics and laxatives in relation to infantile atopic eczema

“…The risk of developing atopic eczema is influenced by various events pre-conception, during pregnancy, and throughout the neonatal period. 1,2 Recent reports have suggested that early life exposure to microbiome altering medications, such as antibiotics and laxatives, could impact the risk of atopic eczema in infancy and childhood. For example, Lin et al, 2022, reported an increased risk of allergic disease in offspring whose mother used laxatives in pregnancy independent of laxative exposure in the offspring but no associations were found for maternal antibiotic use.…”

“…The peer review history for this article is available at https:// www.webof scien ce.com/api/gatew ay/wos/peer-revie w/10.1111/ pai.13964. Sarah El-Heis 1 Sarah R. Crozier 1,2 Nicholas C. Harvey 1,3 Eugene Healy 4 Keith M. Godfrey…”

Atopic dermatitis endotypes: knowledge for personalized medicine

“…Interestingly, a recent meta-analysis of 17 studies showed that the pooled proportion of adult-onset atopic dermatitis was 26.1%, which is not negligible com-pared to child-onset atopic dermatitis [20]. Adult-onset atopic dermatitis may have different pathoge-netic mechanisms from very early-onset atopic dermatitis in which skin barrier abnormalities in this phenotype are either inherent or caused by low-grade inflammation in the infant skin [21 ▪ ]. In Korea, the prevalence of very early-onset atopic dermatitis decreases between 2003 and 2018, whereas child-onset atopic dermatitis may increase during the same period [22].…”

Broncho‐Vaxom bacterial lysate prevents asthma via acetate enhancement in mouse model

“…The risk of developing asthma is strongly influenced by the gut microbiota 2,3 . This led to the “Hygiene Hypothesis,” which subsequently morphed into the more recent “Microbiota Hypothesis.” 4 …”