PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Scientists identify severe asthma species, show air pollutant as likely contributor

For the first time, an analysis identifies non-atopic childhood asthma as more than a set of symptoms, but a distinct disease, driven by early exposure to Benzo[a]pyrene from fossil fuel combustion

2021-04-13
(Press-News.org) Asthma afflicts more than 300 million people worldwide. The most severe manifestation, known as non-Th2, or non-atopic childhood asthma, represents the majority of the cases, greater than 85%, particularly in low-income countries, according to Hyunok Choi (https://health.lehigh.edu/faculty/choi-hyunok), an associate professor at the Lehigh University College of Health (https://health.lehigh.edu/). Yet, whether non-Th2 is a distinct disease (or endotype) or simply a unique set of symptoms (or phenotype) remains unknown.

"Non-Th2 asthma is associated with very poor prognosis in children and great, life-long suffering due to the absence of effective therapies," says Choi. "There is an urgent need to better understand its mechanistic origin to enable early diagnosis and to stop the progression of the disease before it becomes severe."

Studies show that nearly 50% of the children whose asthma is poorly controlled are expected to emerge as severe adult cases. Yet, a one-size-fits-all treatment approach, currently the norm for asthma, is ineffective and, says Choi, and partially responsible for asthma's growing economic burden.

"The primary reason for lack of therapeutic and preventive measures is that no etiologic, or causal, driver has ever been identified for the non-Th2 asthma," says Choi.

Now, for the first time, an epidemiological study, led by Choi, has shown that not only is non-Th2 a distinct disease, its likely inducer is early childhood exposure to airborne Benzo[a]pyrene, a byproduct of fossil fuel combustion. Choi and her colleagues are the first to demonstrate air pollution as a driver of the most challenging type of asthma, the severe subtype which is non-responsive to current therapies.

The team describes their results in an article (https://rdcu.be/cip0w) recently published online in Environmental Health Journal called "Airborne Benzo[a]Pyrene May Contribute to Divergent Pheno-Endotypes in Children." (https://rdcu.be/cip0w) Additional authors: Miroslav Dostal, Anna Pastorkova, Pavel Rossner, Jr., and Radim J. Sram from the Department of Genetic Toxicology and Nanotoxicology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.

What is termed asthma is an umbrella word for multiple diseases with common symptoms. Asthma has been broadly classified as two major sets of symptoms: T helper cell high (Th2-high) and T helper cell low (non-Th2). Th2-high is associated with early-childhood allergies to common pollutants such as pet dander, tree pollens, or mold. In contrast, non-TH2 is not related to an allergic response. The non-Th2 type, marked explicitly by being non-allergy-related, is far less understood than the TH-2 type and could transform into severe or difficult to treat type.

"The identification of non-Th2 asthma as a distinct disease, with early exposure to Benzo[a]pyrene as a driver, has the potential to impact tens of millions of sufferers, since this would make it possible to intervene before the onset of irreversible respiratory injuries," says Choi.

The team tested two comparable groups of children from an industrial city, Ostrava, and the surrounding semi-rural area of Southern Bohemia, in the Czech Republic: 194 children with asthma and a control group consisting of 191 children. According to the study, Ostrava is an industrial city with a high level of coal mining activities, coal processing, and metallurgical refinement. The district-level ambient mean for Benzo[a]pyrene at the time of their investigation November 2008) was 11-times higher than the recommended outdoor and indoor air quality standard.

Not only was elevated exposure to Benzo[a]pyrene associated with correspondingly elevated odds of non-Th2 asthma, it was also associated with depressed systemic oxidant levels.

"Contrary to the current body of evidence supporting adult onset of non-atopic asthma, our data suggest for the first time that the lung function deficit and suppressed oxidative stress levels during early childhood are critical sentinel events preceding non-atopic asthma," says Choi.

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Rescuing street art from vandals' graffiti

2021-04-13
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2021 -- From Los Angeles and the Lower East Side of New York City to Paris and Penang, street art by famous and not-so-famous artists adorns highways, roads and alleys. In addition to creating social statements, works of beauty and tourist attractions, street art sometimes attracts vandals who add their unwanted graffiti, which is hard to remove without destroying the underlying painting. Now, researchers report novel, environmentally friendly techniques that quickly and safely remove over-paintings on street art. The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2021 is being held online April 5-30. Live sessions will be hosted April 5-16, and on-demand and networking ...

Study links structural brain changes to behavioral problems in children who snore

2021-04-13
WHAT: A large study of children has uncovered evidence that behavioral problems in children who snore may be associated with changes in the structure of their brain's frontal lobe. The findings support early evaluation of children with habitual snoring (snoring three or more nights a week). The research, published in Nature Communications, was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and nine other Institutes, Centers, and Offices of the National Institutes of Health. Large, population-based studies have established a clear link between snoring and behavioral problems, such as inattention or hyperactivity, but the exact nature ...

Ancient ammonoids' shell designs may have aided buoyancy control

Ancient ammonoids shell designs may have aided buoyancy control
2021-04-13
Ammonoids, ancestors of today's octopus, squid and cuttlefish, bobbed and jetted their way through the oceans for around 340 million years beginning long before the age of the dinosaurs. If you look at the fossil shells of ammonoids over the course of that 340 million years, you'll notice something striking--as time goes on, the wavy lines inside the shell become more and more complex, eventually becoming frilled almost like the edges of kale leaves. Fossil of Menuites oralensis with external shell removed to reveal intricate suture patterns. These ...

Habitual snoring linked to significant brain changes in children

2021-04-13
Children who regularly snore have structural changes in their brain that may account for the behavioral problems associated with the condition including lack of focus, hyperactivity, and learning difficulties at school. That is the finding of a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), which was published today in the journal Nature Communications. The research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and nine other Institutes, Centers, and Offices of the National Institutes of Health. To conduct study, the researchers examined MRI images collected from more than 10,000 children aged 9 to 10 years enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development ...

Past Global Changes Horizons - a new paleoscience magazine for teenagers and young adults

Past Global Changes Horizons - a new paleoscience magazine for teenagers and young adults
2021-04-13
Past Global Changes Horizons is a scientific review of why the study of Earth's history is important, and uses comics, pictures, and drawings that support short papers with strong messages about past sciences and how to prepare for a changing future. Articles cover different environments across the planet, from caves to oceans, and from Antarctica to the Rift valley in Africa. Each of the 18 contributions addresses a scientific question and includes appealing and understandable figures or images, without sacrificing scientific rigor. Tips and suggestions for further research and discussion topics are also included, meaning Horizons is ...

Crop rotations with beans and peas offer more sustainable and nutritious food production

2021-04-13
Growing more legumes, like beans and lentils, is potentially a more sustainable and nutritious approach to European agriculture, shows a new study in END ...

Five research-backed steps to a pro-vaccination social media campaign

Five research-backed steps to a pro-vaccination social media campaign
2021-04-13
PITTSBURGH, April 13, 2021 - What can vaccine proponents, clinicians and public health communicators learn from "anti-vaxxers?" A lot, according to new guidance for pro-vaccination social media events written by University of Pittsburgh health scientists. The five-part guidelines, published today in the journal Vaccine, arose from an analysis of a grassroots pro-vaccination campaign organized last year by popular physician and social media personality Zubin Damania, M.D., colloquially known as "ZDoggMD." Unexpectedly, more than three-quarters of the tweets associated with the ...

1 in 4 parents give youth sports low rankings for enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines

1 in 4 parents give youth sports low rankings for enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines
2021-04-13
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For young athletes, the new normal on soccer fields and basketball courts means temperature checks before practice, wearing masks through games and a sparse in-person fan base. But that hasn't kept children and teens from playing. Close to a fourth of parents say their child has participated in school, travel, or community sports during the fall or winter months, according to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan. And while the majority of parents give their child's sports organization high marks for communication about safety protocols, one in four rate their sports ...

Doctors still reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis: McMaster

Doctors still reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis: McMaster
2021-04-13
Hamilton, ON (April 13, 2021) - Ontario doctors are still hesitant to prescribe medical cannabis to patients suffering long-term pain 20 years after it was first introduced, says a new study carried out at McMaster University. Physicians surveyed said their main concerns relate to possible ill-effects and a lack of understanding regarding their effectiveness as painkillers. Of particular concern among doctors were potentially harmful effects on cognitive development, a possible worsening of existing mental illnesses in patients and the drug's effects in older adults, which may include dizziness or drowsiness. Meanwhile, the ...

Influence of sea surface temperature in the Indian Ocean on air quality in the Yangtze River Delta region

Influence of sea surface temperature in the Indian Ocean on air quality in the Yangtze River Delta region
2021-04-13
As the foremost economic zone in China, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region has recently been experiencing more frequent haze events, resulting in dramatic damages to human and ecosystem health. Anthropogenic aerosol emissions play a key role in affecting the formation of haze events. However, aside from local sources of pollution, some studies have found that external and preceding climate drivers, such as Arctic sea ice and subtropical western Pacific sea surface temperature, are also influential factors. However, most research has mainly been confined to analyzing the effects on haze pollution in the Northern Hemisphere, with few considering the Southern Hemisphere. "We found that the December sea surface temperature ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Scientists identify severe asthma species, show air pollutant as likely contributor
For the first time, an analysis identifies non-atopic childhood asthma as more than a set of symptoms, but a distinct disease, driven by early exposure to Benzo[a]pyrene from fossil fuel combustion