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Early age exposure to moisture damage and systemic inflammation at the age of 6 years

A M Karvonen1, C Tischer2,3,4, P V Kirjavainen1,5

  • 1Department of Health Security, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.

Indoor Air
|February 17, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Early life exposure to indoor moisture and mold did not significantly increase subclinical inflammation in children. However, mold exposure showed some association with altered immune responses later in childhood.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Immunology
  • Pediatric Health

Background:

  • Cross-sectional studies suggest a link between indoor moisture/mold exposure and subclinical inflammation.
  • Prospective data on early-life exposure and later childhood immune outcomes are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prospective association between early-life exposure to indoor moisture damage or mold and subclinical systemic inflammation.
  • To assess the impact of early-life moisture/mold exposure on immune responsiveness in later childhood.

Main Methods:

  • Home inspections conducted in the first year of life.
  • At age 6 years, subclinical inflammation assessed via serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and blood leukocytes.
  • Immune responsiveness measured by ex vivo cytokine production (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) in stimulated and unstimulated whole blood cultures.

Main Results:

  • Infant exposure to moisture damage was not significantly linked to elevated CRP or leukocytes at age 6.
  • Moisture damage with visible mold showed a positive association with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) production.
  • Minor moisture damage was inversely associated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin (PI)-stimulated interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β) production.

Conclusions:

  • Early-life exposure to mold damage may influence later immune responsiveness.
  • No significant increase in subclinical systemic inflammation was observed in later life due to early mold exposure.

Keywords:
childrencytokinesindoorinflammationmoisture damagemold

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