Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Early influences on respiratory health and disease
Disease area: Airway diseases, Paediatric lung diseases

Abstract

We showed that endotoxin levels in mattress dust of schoolchildren from rural areas were strongly inversely related to the occurrence of hay fever, atopic asthma and atopic sensitization. Microbial products such as endotoxin are recognized by the innate immune system early in life and may direct the maturation of a child's immune responses in a way enabling tolerance of components of the natural environment. In the present analyses of the ALEX study we investigated the association of exposure to endotoxin with the cytokine profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC's) following LPS stimulation in 812 children aged 6-12 years from rural , partly farming, areas of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Endotoxin content of dust samples from mattresses was determined by a kinetic Limulus assay and cytokines were measured by commercially available ELISA kits. The association between endotoxin exposure (EU/m2) and TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12, and IL-10 expressed as mean ratio was 0.69 (95% CI 0.59-0.81), 0.62 (95% CI 0.48-0.8), 0.80 (95% CI 0.66-0.97), 0.89 (95% CI 0.70-1.13), respectively. This inverse relation between the level of endotoxin exposure and the capacity of PBMC's to produce inflammatory and regulatory cytokines indicates a marked down-regulation of immune responses in exposed children. Thus, a subject's environmental exposure to microbial products may play a crucial role for the development of tolerance towards ubiquitous allergens found in natural environments.

Rating:

Share or cite this content

Citations should be made in the following way:
Environmental exposure to endotoxin is inversely related to TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-10 in school-aged children. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 1137

Member's Comments

No comment yet.

Related content which might interest you: Increased inflammatory response and cytokine release (TNF-alpha, IL-8) after environmental tobacco smoke exposure in patients with asthma Source: Annual Congress 2010 - COPD and asthma: models and human studies Year: 2010 LSC - 2019 - IL-4, IL-8, IL-13, IL-17, IL-33 serum levels changes in acute allergic asthma model Source: International Congress 2019 – Novel insights from in vitro and in vivo models of lung disease Year: 2019 The content of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IFNγ in blood serum and other indices of immune status in respiratory atopy and preudoatopy Source: Annual Congress 2009 - Inflammation and airways Year: 2009 Serum levels of IL-8, IL-10 and TNFα in severe allergic asthma Source: Eur Respir J 2005; 26: Suppl. 49, 279s Year: 2005 Serum levels of IL-5, IL-6 and IL-8 in moderate and severe asthma clusters Source: International Congress 2018 – Biomarkers and lung function in airway disease Year: 2018 Serum TNF-a, IL-12 and IL-13 levels in severe bronchial asthma patients Source: Eur Respir J 2004; 24: Suppl. 48, 353s Year: 2004 Canf1 levels in house dust correlate with interleukin-10 responses in infancy Source: Eur Respir J 2004; 24: Suppl. 48, 169s Year: 2004 The concentration of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 and IFNγ in nasal secretion in respiratory atopy and pseudoatopy Source: Eur Respir J 2005; 26: Suppl. 49, 485s Year: 2005 Serum levels of neopterin, interleukin-10 and interleukin-12 in workers exposed to coal dust Source: Annual Congress 2010 - Mineral dusts and respiratory disease Year: 2010 Does obesity affects circulating inflammatory cytokines in asthmatic children? Source: Annual Congress 2009 - Epidemiology and risk factors of childhood asthma: what every clinician should know Year: 2009 Elevated serum IL-12 and IL-18 levels in patients with bronchial asthma Source: Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 424s Year: 2002 IL-4, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha levels in serum of patients with COPD, bronchial asthma and GERD Source: Annual Congress 2012 - Inflammatory mechanisms in COPD Year: 2012 Early life exposure to farming environment and indoor exposure to endotoxin are inversely related to asthma, hay fever and atopy in children Source: Eur Respir J 2001; 18: Suppl. 33, 155s Year: 2001 IL-18 and IL-10 in patients with occupational COPD, depending on the presence or absence of hypertension Source: International Congress 2018 – Biomarkers of COPD Year: 2018 Relations of serum IL-13 and total serum IgE with IL-13 polymorphism R130Q in children with asthma Source: Eur Respir J 2005; 26: Suppl. 49, 398s Year: 2005 Aerobic exercise reduces pulmonary inflammation in diet-induced obesity in a HDM model of asthma through adipokines, IL-10, IL-17 and IL-23 signaling Source: International Congress 2015 – New insights into exercise and muscle performance Year: 2015 Age-depended levels of IL-2, IL-4 in children with community acquired pneumonia and wheezing Source: International Congress 2015 – Respiratory infections in children Year: 2015 Decreased T-bet expression and changes in levels of chemokines (IP-10, MIG, RANTES, MCP-1 and IL-8) in peripheral blood of adults with asthma Source: Eur Respir J 2006; 28: Suppl. 50, 593s Year: 2006 Serum levels of IL-2, IL-4 in bronchopulmonary mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children Source: Annual Congress 2013 –The burden of respiratory infections in children Year: 2013 Serum IL-12p70 and IL-12p40 levels in severe asthma patients with fixed airway obstruction Source: Eur Respir J 2006; 28: Suppl. 50, 234s Year: 2006