The need for clean air: The way air pollution and climate change affect allergic rhinitis and asthma

Abstract

Air pollution and climate change have a significant impact on human health and well‐being and contribute to the onset and aggravation of allergic rhinitis and asthma among other chronic respiratory diseases. In Westernized countries, households have experienced a process of increasing insulation and individuals tend to spend most of their time indoors. These sequelae implicate a high exposure to indoor allergens (house dust mites, pets, molds, etc), tobacco smoke, and other pollutants, which have an impact on respiratory health. Outdoor air pollution derived from traffic and other human activities not only has a direct negative effect on human health but also enhances the allergenicity of some plants and contributes to global warming. Climate change modifies the availability and distribution of plant‐ and fungal‐derived allergens and increases the frequency of extreme climate events. This review summarizes the effects of indoor air pollution, outdoor air pollution, and subsequent climate change on asthma and allergic rhinitis in children and adults and addresses the policy adjustments and lifestyle changes required to mitigate their deleterious effects.

The impact of lockdown on allergic rhinitis: What is good and what is bad?

“…2 Experimental works and clinical evidence have shown that airborne pollutants can interact with pollen so as to exacerbate these conditions. 2,7 Such interactions, mainly with outdoor allergens, can occur through several mechanisms that have been only partially elucidated:…”

“…[2][3][4] Overall, the environmental pollution may worsen allergic response by increasing the allergenicity of outdoor pollen and by promoting nonspecific airway inflammation. 2,7 Based on these highlights, we believe that we are having an invaluable opportunity to understand how human activities can affect both air and life quality in the allergic population. As previously stated, AR and asthmatic patients are supposed to benefit from the reduction of F I G U R E 1 These images, using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, show the average nitrogen dioxide concentrations, above Italy, from March 14 to 25, 2020, compared to the monthly average concentrations from 2019.…”

“…(© contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [2019-2020], processed by KNMI/ESA) 6 air pollution but we can hypothesize that breathing "cleaner" air with fewer pollutants, which are able to alter pollen allergenicity in a dose-and time-dependent manner, could, paradoxically, increase the inhalation of purified allergens, thus causing worsening of symptoms in allergic populations. 2,7 Ascertained that it is difficult to establish the interaction between allergens and pollution, we would like to highlight another issue: the use of facial masks. In fact, many governments currently advise the population to wear a face mask outdoors.…”

Innate Inspiration: Antifungal Peptides and Other Immunotherapeutics From the Host Immune Response

“…Defects in innate immune responses, including neutropenia, alveolar macrophage dysfunction, and mutations in STAT3 (resulting in autosomal dominant hyper IgE syndrome) and impaired NAPDH oxidase activity facilitate the development of pulmonary, and in some cases invasive, aspergillosis (8), whereas mutations in the gene for CARD9 (signaling adaptor protein for the C-type lectin receptor) results in increased susceptibility to many types of fungal infection, including dermatophytosis (9,10). The reasons for the increased incidence of fungal infections over recent decades are beyond the scope of this manuscript and readers are directed to several excellent reviews on the subject (3,4,7,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Fungi are ubiquitous throughout nature and we are constantly exposed to these microbes from the environment via inhalation, ingestion or on epithelial surfaces including the skin and mucosae (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21).…”

Environmental factors in epithelial barrier dysfunction

“…4,[6][7][8][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Recent studies have revealed that environmental exposures, global warming, and climate change have negative effects on respiratory health and increase the allergenicity of some allergens. [21][22][23][24][25] A systematic review and metaanalysis has reported that exposure to cleaning products is associated with an increased risk of asthma. 26 Many epidemiologic and surveillance studies, and several case reports, have identified an association between increased risk of asthma and exposure to cleaning sprays, bleach, ammonia, disinfectants, mixing products, as well as specific works exposed to asthmainducing triggers.…”