BACKGROUND Factors which determine the development of atopy and the observed rural-urban gradient in its prevalence are not fully understood. High body mass index (BMI) has been associated with asthma and potentially atopy in industrialized countries. In developing countries, the transition from rural to urban areas has been associated with lifestyle changes and an increased prevalence of high ...

BACKGROUND/AIM Bronchiolitis in early childhood caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is considered to be important risk factor of the recurrent wheezing and asthma development. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of RSV infection and atopy in children up to two years of age and to determine their correlation with bronchial hyperreactivity. METHODS The study included 175 ...

Microbial exposures in early childhood direct the development of immune system and their diversity may influence risk allergy development. We aimed to determine whether indoor microbial at early-life is associated with allergic rhinitis inhalant atopy. The study population included children within two birth cohorts: Finnish rural-suburban LUKAS (N = 312), German urban LISA from Munich Leipzig c...

BACKGROUND Atopy is an important risk factor for asthma, rhinitis, atopic eczema and urticaria. For this reason, several studies have been done to determine the prevalence of atopy in the paediatric population. The important differences among these studies do not allow the extrapolating of results. In this study, we calculate the prevalence of atopy and atopy-related diseases in a paediatric po...

The aim was to test the hypothesis that atopy increases the occurrence of chronic bronchitis. Relations between atopy, smoking, and chronic bronchitis were studied in farmers. The data were from two successive postal surveys and a skin prick tested subsample. The cross-sectional study consisted of 9017 farmers. Those 6899 farmers who did not have chronic bronchitis at the beginning and who cont...

BACKGROUND Atopy is considered to be a complex genetic trait and does not follow a simple mendelian pattern of inheritance. It is now well recognised that gene-gene interactions are important in complex genetic disease. AIM To analyse the influence of gene-gene interactions in the development of atopy. METHODS A total of 2055 ethnically identical participants aged 10-18 years living in rura...

Increased airway responsiveness (AR) is associated with asthma, but not all individuals with increased AR have asthma. The aim of this study was to identify factors, other than physician-diagnosed asthma (PDA), which are associated with increased AR. In a longitudinal study, data were collected on atopy and lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) in infancy, and AR (expressed as dose-response sl...

OBJECTIVE IgG Fc receptors (FcγRs) play important roles in immune responses. It is not clear whether FcγR receptors play a role in human asthma and allergy. The aim of current study was to investigate whether functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of FcγR genes (FCGR) are associated with human asthma and allergy. METHODS Functional SNPs of FCGR2A (FcγRIIA-131His>Arg, rs1801274), FC...

OBJECTIVE To study the association between atopy and variables such as weight, length, and socioeconomic level at birth and in young adulthood. METHODS A total of 2,063 subjects were investigated in a prospective birth cohort study of individuals born in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, in 1978/1979, and examined at the age of 23-25 years. Skin prick tests (SPT) for eight common allergens in Brazil we...