Reduced risk of hay fever and asthma among children of farmers

Ehrenstein, Ondine S. von; Mutius, Erika von; Illi, Sabina; Baumann, Lauren; Böhm, O.; Kries, Rüdiger von

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2222.2000.00801.x

Cited by 634 publications

(512 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

440

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Estimates from the video questionnaire for the prevalence of wheeze in the previous 12 months were even lower, ranging 1.3-3.3% for the centres in China, whereas the global mean was 7.3%. The low prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and reported asthma in rural areas in China is consistent with recent reports of the scarcity of asthma and atopy among children raised on farms in several countries [7][8][9][10][11]. It has been postulated that the lifestyle associated with living on a farm (larger family size, more pets, heating frequently using wood or coal, less maternal smoking and more dampness) may be responsible for the low prevalence.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

The prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms among adults in rural Beijing, China

Chan‐Yeung¹,

Zhang²,

Tu³

et al. 2002

Eur Respir J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

No data have been reported on the prevalence of asthma in rural areas of China. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of asthmalike symptoms, reported asthma and reported asthma attacks in rural Beijing, China, and to compare the prevalence in 20-44-yr-old participants with those reported for Canada and the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS).For a cross-sectional survey, 30 villages were randomly selected in the counties of Shunyi and Tongxian, 50 km north and east respectively of the city of Beijing and within the municipality of Beijing. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease questionnaire on bronchial symptoms translated into Chinese was completed by village doctors for each individual of w15 yrs. The survey was completed by 22,561 individuals, representing 98% of the eligible population.The prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and reported asthma attacks was higher in females than in males and increased with age. Smoking significantly increased the prevalence of symptoms; the effect in females was greater than in males. Among the 20-44-yr-olds, the prevalence of reported asthma attacks in the previous 12 months was 0.67% in rural Beijing, very much lower than that reported in ECRHS centres (3.1%), urban Canada (6.9%) and semirural Canada (5.1%), after adjusting for age and sex. The prevalence of asthma-like symptoms was also very low in rural Beijing compared with ECRHS centres and Canada.It is concluded that the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and reported asthma was low in rural China compared with other countries, consistent with reports of the relative scarcity of asthma in farms and the "hygiene hypothesis".

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

The prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms among adults in rural Beijing, China

Chan‐Yeung¹,

Zhang²,

Tu³

et al. 2002

Eur Respir J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One hypothesis is that the farming environment has a stimulatory impact on the developing immune system that may confer protection from allergic disease. Allergy-protective effects of a farming lifestyle have previously been reported by large epidemiological questionnaire-based studies regarding clinical diagnosis of allergy (29,30). Indeed, even though a relatively low number of study subjects were included in this cohort, we show that the prevalence of allergic disease, but not sensitization, is significantly reduced in children raised on a dairy farm compared with nonfarmers' children who lived on the countryside.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…2A). The prevalence of allergy is reduced in children raised on dairy farms (29,30). In this study, we found a significantly lower prevalence of allergic disease, but not sensitization, at both 18 and 36 mo of age among farmers' children compared with nonfarmers' children (Supplemental Fig.…”

Section: High Proportions Of Cd5 + B Cells Are Positively Associated mentioning

confidence: 48%

High Proportion of CD5+ B Cells in Infants Predicts Development of Allergic Disease

Lundell

Johansen

Adlerberth

et al. 2014

The Journal of Immunology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Delayed maturation of the immune system has been proposed to be a risk factor for development of allergy, but B cell maturation in relation to allergic disease has not been examined. B cells lose CD5 and acquire CD27 during maturation from immature via mature/naive to Ig-secreting cells and memory cells. We sought to investigate B cell maturation in relation to development of allergic disease and sensitization in the FARMFLORA birth cohort including 65 Swedish children. Total B cell numbers, proportions of CD5+ and CD27+ B cells, and levels of IgM, IgG, IgA, and IgE were measured in blood on repeated occasions from birth to 36 mo of age, and related to allergic disease and sensitization at 18 and 36 mo of age with multivariate discriminant analysis. We also compared the expression of CD24 and CD38 within CD5+ and CD5neg B cells in children and in adults. We found that infants with a high proportion of CD5+ B cells at birth and at 1 mo of age had an increased risk for having allergic disease at 18 and 36 mo of life. Further, the proportions of CD5+ B cells at 1 mo of age were inversely correlated with total IgG levels at 18 and 36 mo of age. The majority of the CD5+ B cells were of a CD24hi/+CD38hi/+ immature/naive phenotype at birth (97%), 7 y of age (95%), and in adults (86%). These results suggest that development of allergic disease is preceded by an immaturity in neonatal B cell phenotype.

show abstract

“…16 In turn, endotoxin exposure confers protection on the development of allergy and asthma. 17 While no prior studies have evaluated this effect in our gene of interest, TLR6, both TLR6 and TLR4 elicit similar cytokine responses upon exposure to bacteria, 18 suggesting that alterations in TLR6 may result in a phenotype similar to that of TLR4. Interestingly, human mast cells express mRNA for TLR6.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Toll-like receptor 6 gene (TLR6): single-nucleotide polymorphism frequencies and preliminary association with the diagnosis of asthma

et al. 2004

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Toll-like receptor 6 (TLR6) is one of a series of highly conserved innate immune receptors. We resequenced TLR6 in DNA samples from 24 African Americans, 23 European Americans, and 24 Hispanic Americans, identifying 53 SNPs, 22 with an allele frequency 45%. Significant differences in SNP frequencies among the three populations were noted. In all, 11 SNPs caused amino-acid changes, including one with a frequency 45% in all three populations. Utilizing this SNP (Ser249Pro), we performed exploratory nested case-control disease-association studies, including one involving 56 African Americans with asthma and 93 African American controls. The minor allele of this SNP was associated with decreased risk for asthma (odds ratio 0.38, 95% CI 0.16-0.87, P ¼ 0.01), an effect consistent with the known biology of the toll-like receptors. Although replication of this finding in other, larger samples is needed, variation in TLR6 may have relevance to the pathogenesis of immunologically mediated diseases.

show abstract

Reduced risk of hay fever and asthma among children of farmers

Abstract: Factors related to environmental influences on a farm such as increased exposure to bacterial compounds in stables where livestock is kept prevent the development of allergic disorders in children.

Cited by 634 publications

References 27 publications

The prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms among adults in rural Beijing, China

The prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms among adults in rural Beijing, China

High Proportion of CD5+ B Cells in Infants Predicts Development of Allergic Disease

Toll-like receptor 6 gene (TLR6): single-nucleotide polymorphism frequencies and preliminary association with the diagnosis of asthma

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About