Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 21, 2025
Noninvasive Sampling of Mucosal Lining Fluid for the Quantification of In Vivo Upper Airway Immune-mediator Levels
Published on: August 7, 2017
Environmental exposure during pregnancy and the risk of childhood allergic diseases
Ming-Zhi Zhang1,2, Shan-Shan Chu3, Yan-Kai Xia1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China.
Insights
Exposure to environmental chemicals during pregnancy increases the risk of childhood allergic diseases like asthma. Maternal diet, medications, and lifestyle also play a role in these complex conditions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Environmental Health
- Immunology
Background:
- Allergic diseases pose significant risks to children's health, with increasing global prevalence.
- The etiology of childhood allergies is multifactorial and complex, involving immune system dysregulation.
- Understanding contributing factors is crucial for prevention and management strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between prenatal environmental exposures and the risk of childhood allergic diseases.
- To explore the underlying mechanisms linking environmental factors to allergic conditions in children.
- To review current literature on maternal factors influencing infant allergy development.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature search of major scientific databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science.
- Focus on studies examining environmental exposures during pregnancy and their impact on childhood asthma and atopic dermatitis.
- Analysis of potential immunological mechanisms involved in the development of allergic diseases.
Main Results:
- Prenatal exposure to specific environmental chemicals, including bisphenols, phthalates, perfluorochemicals, PBDEs, and PCBs, is linked to increased risk of childhood allergies.
- Maternal factors such as diet, medication use (e.g., aspirin, paracetamol, antibiotics), and lifestyle choices also correlate with childhood allergic disease development.
- These exposures can disrupt immune system balance, affecting T-helper cell function, cytokines, and immunoglobulin levels.
Conclusions:
- Harmful environmental exposures during pregnancy can adversely affect fetal immune development, predisposing children to allergic diseases.
- Interference with Th1/Th2 cell function, cytokines, and immunoglobulins by environmental factors is a key mechanism.
- Maternal health and environmental exposures during gestation are critical determinants of a child's allergic disease risk.
Background:
Allergic diseases are one of the most common and important diseases that can exert hazardous effects on children's health. The prevalence of allergic diseases in childhood is gradually increasing all over the world in recent decades. Known causes of these diseases include anomalous immune responses and allergic inflammatory reactions, but the causes of allergic diseases in childhood are complex.
Data Sources:
PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science were searched for articles focusing on environmental exposure during pregnancy and the risk of childhood allergic diseases, including asthma and atopic dermatitis, and the possible underlying mechanism.
Results:
In terms of environmental factors, allergic diseases in childhood are closely related to environmental chemical exposure during pregnancy, including bisphenols, phthalates acid esters, perfluorochemicals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and polychlorinated biphenyls. However, allergic diseases in childhood are also closely associated with maternal dietary nutrition, maternal intake of drugs, such as acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), paracetamol and antibiotics, and maternal lifestyle.
Conclusions:
Several harmful environmental factors during pregnancy can result in the interruption of the function of helper T cells (Th1/Th2), cytokines and immunoglobulins and may activate allergic reactions, which can lead to allergic diseases during childhood.
More Related Videos
09:09Generating a Reproducible Model of Mid-Gestational Maternal Immune Activation using PolyI:C to Study Susceptibility and Resilience in Offspring
Published on: August 17, 2022
08:47Symptom Assessment of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis Using an Allergen Exposure Chamber
Published on: March 3, 2023
Related Concept Videos
01:29Asthma-I: Introduction
02:06Allergic Reactions
01:36Types of Toxins
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
01:20Gene-Environment Interactions
01:29Environmental Influences on Intelligence
01:23Upper Respiratory Drugs: Antitussives, Expectorants, and Mucolytics
Antitussives include codeine, dextromethorphan (Robitussin), and benzonatate (Tessalon). Codeine and dextromethorphan exert their effects centrally by suppressing the cough reflex center in the medulla. Benzonatate operates peripherally within the respiratory tract by...