Hui-Ju Wen

Are maternal psychosocial factors associated with cord immunoglobulin E in addition to family atopic history and mother immunoglobulin E

Background Atopy in maternal and family histories is known to be a risk factor for elevated umbilical cord immunoglobulin E (cIgE). However, the association between cIgE and psychosocial factors remains under investigation.

Predicting risk for early infantile atopic dermatitis by hereditary and environmental factors.

Background  Hereditary and environmental factors contribute to the occurrence of atopic dermatitis (AD). However, the interaction of these two factors is not totally understood.

Maternal employment and atopic dermatitis in children: a prospective cohort study

Background  Considering the early onset of atopic dermatitis (AD), which most often arises in the first year of life, risk factors occurring very early in life must be considered. Little is known about the effects of maternal occupational exposure on the development of atopic disorders in children.

Association between cord blood IgE and genetic polymorphisms of interleukin-4, the β-subunit of the high-affinity receptor for IgE, lymphotoxin-α, and tumor Necrosis factor-α

High cord blood immunoglobulin E (cbIgE) is known to be associated with increased risks of atopic diseases in childhood. The relationship between genetic polymorphisms and high cbIgE has not been well documented. A cross‐sectional study was conducted to assess the association between cbIgE and genetic polymorphisms of interleukin (IL)‐4 ‐590C/T, the β‐subunit of the high‐affinity receptor for IgE (FcɛRI‐β) E237G, lymphotoxin (LT)‐αNcoI alleles, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α ‐308G/A. A total of 320 mother–neonate pairs were recruited from four maternity hospitals from different locations of Taiwan. Cord blood was obtained and assayed for cbIgE. Polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to assess the genotypes. Three hundred pairs of mothers and neonates were included in the final analysis. Infants with IL‐4 ‐590 C allele were found to have higher risk of elevated cbIgE (≥0.35 IU/ml, 24.3%) (p = 0.004). After adjusting for gender, birth order, maternal age, and history of allergic disease in maternal and paternal families, odds ratios for CC and CT genotypes were 4.41 and 3.16 (95% confidence interval 0.78–22.67, and 1.66–6.13), respectively, using TT genotype as reference. The genotypes of FcɛRI‐β, LT‐α, and TNF‐α were not associated with cbIgE before or after the adjustment. Our finding suggested a significant association of cbIgE with genetic polymorphism of IL‐4 ‐590C/T, but not with the genotypes of FcɛRI‐β, LT‐α, and TNF‐α.

Predicting risk for childhood asthma by pre-pregnancy, perinatal, and postnatal factors.

Symptoms of atopic disease start early in human life. Predicting risk for childhood asthma by early‐life exposure would contribute to disease prevention. A birth cohort study was conducted to investigate early‐life risk factors for childhood asthma and to develop a predictive model for the development of asthma.

Prenatal and postnatal risk factors for infantile pneumonia in a representative birth cohort.

Pneumonia is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in infants. However, information of risk factors for pneumonia in children aged <6 months is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the risk factors and their contribution to infantile pneumonia in a large population-based survey. Of 24,200 randomly sampled main caregivers invited, 21,248 (87.8%) participated in this study. A structured questionnaire was used to interview the main caregivers. Information regarding whether hospitalization was required, family environment, and medical history were obtained. The prevalence of pneumonia was 0.62% in our study cohort. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preterm birth, congenital cardiopulmonary disease, antibiotic use during pregnancy, maternal overweight, daily prenatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and visible mould on walls at home are risk factors associated with infantile pneumonia. Further study is warranted to investigate the causality and mechanisms of these novel factors.