Asthma, allergy

Professor Peter Sly
Professor Patrick Holt
Dr Merci Kusel

Asthma and allergies have increased dramatically over recent years. The prevalence of asthma in Australia is high, affecting 1 in 4 children, 1 in 7 teenagers and 1 in 10 adults. [National Asthma Council Australia]. Asthma and atopy (allergy) have been studied in the Raine Cohort since infancy.

At six year follow up the Raine Study recorded information on family history of asthma, hayfever and eczema. The children did spirometry tests, which measures lung function, and skin prick tests for four common allergens. Of the six year old children tested (n=2147), 41% had an allergy and 31% reported having asthma. 18% had severe asthma (doctor diagnosis of asthma and on current asthma medication). Four years later, at age ten, children who were resported asthmatic at age six were shown to have more social and learning difficulties than those children without asthma, with severe asthmatics having greater problems. Again, in the 13/14 year follow up, the children did lung function and bronchial responsiveness tests. Skin prick tests were also done for allergens.

Publications:

Stick SM, Burton PR, Gurrin L, Sly PD, LeSouef PN. Effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy and a family history of asthma on respiratory function in newborn infants. Lancet. 1996 Oct 19;348(9034):1060-4.

Yabuhara A, Macaubas C, Prescott SL, Venaille TJ, Holt BJ, Habre W, et al. TH2-polarized immunological memory to inhalant allergens in atopics is established during infancy and early childhood. Clin Exp Allergy. 1997 NOV;27(11):1261-9.

Macaubas C, Sly PD, Burton P, Tiller K, Yabuhara A, Holt BJ, et al. Regulation of T-helper cell responses to inhalant allergen during early childhood. Clin Exp Allergy. 1999 Sep;29(9):1223-31.

Holt PG, Rudin A, Macaubas C, Holt BJ, Rowe J, Loh R, et al. Development of immunologic memory against tetanus toxoid and pertactin antigens from the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine in atopic versus nonatopic children. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2000 Jun;105(6 Pt 1):1117-22.

Rudin A, Macaubas C, Wee C, Holt BJ, Sly PD, Holt PG. "Bystander" amplification of PBMC cytokine responses to seasonal allergen in polysensitized atopic children. Allergy. 2001 NOV;56(11):1042-8.

Morahan G, Huang DX, Wu M, Holt BJ, White GP, Kendall GE, et al. Association of IL12B promoter polymorphism with severity of atopic and non-atopic asthma in children. Lancet. 2002 AUG 10;360(9331):455-9.

Macaubas C, de Klerk NH, Holt BJ, Wee C, Kendall G, Firth M, et al. Association between antenatal cytokine production and the development of atopy and asthma at age 6 years. Lancet. 2003 OCT 11;362(9391):1192-7.

Joseph-Bowen J, de Klerk N, Holt PG, Sly PD. Relationship of asthma, atopy, and bronchial responsiveness to serum eosinophil cationic proteins in early childhood. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004 Nov;114(5):1040-5.

Joseph-Bowen J, de Klerk NH, Firth MJ, Kendall GE, Holt PG, Sly PD. Lung function, bronchial responsiveness, and asthma in a community cohort of 6-year-old children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004 Apr 1;169(7):850-4.

Heaton T, Rowe J, Turner S, Aalberse RC, de Klerk N, Suriyaarachchi D, et al. An immunoepidemiological approach to asthma: identification of in-vitro T-cell response patterns associated with different wheezing phenotypes in children. Lancet. 2005 Jan 8;365(9454):142-9.

Yerkovich ST, Roponen M, Smith ME, McKenna K, Bosco A, Subrata LS, et al. Allergen-enhanced thrombomodulin (blood dendritic cell antigen 3, CD141) expression on dendritic cells is associated with a T(H)2-skewed immune response. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009 Jan;123(1):209-16.

Kozyrskyj, A. L., Kendall, G. E., Jacoby, P., Sly, P. D. & Zubrick, S. R. 2009, 'Association Between Socioeconomic Status and the Development of Asthma: Analyses of Income Trajectories', American Journal of Public Health.

Last updated 30 October 2009