Smoking affects allergy-relevant stem cells

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research investigates the relationship between environmental influences and stem cell development for the first time

2012-11-14

(Press-News.org) This press release is available in German.

Leipzig. Environmental contaminants, such as smoking, are harmful to the human organism in relation to the occurrence of allergies. This is known. Until now, researchers had never investigated whether and to what extent environmental contaminants also affect allergy-relevant stem cells. For the first time a team at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has found evidence for this: Smoking affects the development of peripheral allergy-relevant stem cells in the blood. In order to present this result Dr. Irina Lehmann and Dr. Kristin Weiße chose a new scientific path: The combination of exposure analysis and stem cell research.

Stem cells are not specialised, propagate without limit and can develop to different cell types. From these the different cell and tissue types of the human organism, including the allergy-promoting eosinophil granulocytes, are differentiated. Progenitor cells, e.g. eosinophil/basophilic progenitors, which mature in the bone marrow and are then washed out into the bloodstream – the so-called periphery - function as a link between unspecialised stem cells and specialised tissue and organ cells. Until now, whether and to what extent environmental contaminants affect this maturation and release has not been investigated.

The UFZ team of Dr. Irina Lehmann and Dr. Kristin Weiße undertook their investigations from this point. Two facts were already known from a number of earlier studies: Firstly that the blood of allergy sufferers – whether children or adults – shows evidence of increased eosinophil/basophil progenitor levels. Secondly, that the occurrence of such peripheral progenitors in the blood of the umbilical cord indicates a higher risk for subsequent allergies. For the first time, the hypothesis which Dr. Kristin Weiße and Dr. Irina Lehmann developed on this basis combined this knowledge from stem cell research with the results of many years of exposure research at the UFZ. The researchers characterise their approach in the following way: "We wanted to clarify the relationship between environmental influences and the maturation and differentiation of the progenitor cells on the one hand and its contribution to the occurrence of allergies on the other hand. Specifically, we wanted to know whether the occurrence of allergy-relevant progenitor cells in the blood of infants can be changed by environmental influences".

The results of the study, based on the data collected from 60 children aged one year, were recently published in the British medical journal "Clinical & Experimental Allergy": It was found that children with skin manifestations, such as atopic dermatitis or cradle cap, have increased levels of eosinophil progenitors in their blood. In this connection, it was shown for the first time that children already afflicted show particularly sensitive reactions when exposed to environmental contaminants: The offspring of families exposed to significant levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) at home were found to have considerably higher allergy-relevant eosinophilic/basophilic progenitor cell levels. "That VOCs, large amounts of which are released with cigarette smoke, have the greatest effect on stem cells was not entirely unexpected", explains Dr. Irina Lehmann. "Just as important, however", adds Dr. Kristin Weiße, is "that we can show that alterations in the number of stem cells as a result of harmful substances take place only in children who have already been afflicted with skin manifestations." This leads to the conclusion: There is a relationship between the genetic predisposition for a disease and environmental influences – there are environmental and life style factors which determine whether a genetic predisposition is in fact realised or not.

Considerable logistical effort underlies this knowledge: On the one hand there is the long-term study "LiNA – Life Style and Environmental Factors and their Influence on The Risk of Allergy" in Newborn Children, a joint project of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Städtisches Klinikum St. Georg in Leipzig. 622 mothers, with a total of 629 children born, were recruited for the study between 2006 and 2008. In order to also take prenatal environmental influences into account - in contrast with earlier comparable studies of newborn children – mothers were already included in the investigations during pregnancy and the children from the time of birth. At the same time, it was necessary to become familiar with the methods required for stem cell analysis at the laboratory of the Canadian cooperation partner, Professor Judah Denburg of the McMaster University in Hamilton and to transfer this knowledge to Germany. Dr. Kristin Weiße spent six months in Canada working in the group of Professor Denburg in order to acquire the necessary know-how and profit from the experience of the Canadian partners. Dr. Lehmann and Dr. Weiße agree that "with the subject of environmental contamination and stem cells we have established an exciting new field of research". The UFZ team is currently the only one in the world investigating this relationship with analytical precision and methodical patience. The LiNA study, in the course of which mothers and their children can be observed over several years, represents a unique basis. Daniela Weber

INFORMATION:

Publication:

K. Weisse, I. Lehmann, D. Heroux, T. Kohajda, G. Herberth, S. Röder, M. von Bergen, M. Borte and J. Denburg (2012): The LINA cohort: indoor chemical exposure, circulating eosinophil/basophil (Eo/B) progenitors and early life skin manifestations (pages 1337). Clinical & Experimental Allergy. 09/2012; 42(9):1337-46. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2222.2012.04024.x

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2222.2012.04024.x

This research project was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the AllerGen NCE Inc. network.

Further Information:

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Tilo Arnhold (UFZ Press Office)
Phone: +49-341-235-1635
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=640

Links:

Environmental Immunology
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=1585

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Kicking the habit -- new research examines the barriers to quitting smoking for smokers with asthma

2012-11-14

A new University of Cincinnati study examines how anxiety sensitivity can thwart the efforts of smokers with asthma to quit smoking. This new direction of research from Alison McLeish, a UC assistant professor of psychology, will be presented on Nov.17, at the 46th annual convention of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) in National Harbor, Md. Anxiety sensitivity, or AS, refers to a person's chronic fear of anxiety-related symptoms – the belief that experiences such as sweaty palms, shallow breathing, headache or rapid heartbeat could bring on ...

UC research explores relationship-building program for male same-sex couples

2012-11-14

University of Cincinnati research is examining the effectiveness of a relationship education program that was created to specifically address the needs of male same-sex couples. Details on the program and the study, led by Sarah Whitton, a UC assistant professor of psychology, will be presented Nov. 17, at the 46th annual convention of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) in National Harbor, Md. Whitton explains that same-sex couples and heterosexual couples share similar foundations for building successful relationships: commitment, communication ...

University of Cincinnati research examines why some people are afraid to relax

2012-11-14

Although many people look forward to getting away on vacation or just putting their feet up at home, there are others who can get as anxious about taking time to relax as they would if they were delivering a national address. Christina Luberto, a doctoral student in the University of Cincinnati's Department of Psychology, has now developed a questionnaire, the Relaxation Sensitivity Index (RSI), to examine the phenomenon. Preliminary findings on the RSI will be presented on Nov.17, at the 46th annual convention of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies ...

Driving drones can be a drag

2012-11-14

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- On its surface, operating a military drone looks a lot like playing a video game: Operators sit at workstations, manipulating joysticks to remotely adjust a drone's pitch and elevation, while grainy images from the vehicle's camera project onto a computer screen. An operator can issue a command to fire if an image reveals a hostile target, but such adrenaline-charged moments are few and far between. Instead, a drone operator — often a seasoned fighter pilot — spends most of his shift watching and waiting, as automated systems keep the vehicle running. ...

Queen's research gives fresh hope to couples with 'unexplained infertility'

2012-11-14

New research from Queen's University Belfast has uncovered the cause of infertility for 80 per cent of couples previously diagnosed with 'unexplained infertility'. At present some 50,000 couples require fertility treatment across the UK each year, with the figure reaching one million worldwide. Up to one third of these couples are diagnosed with unexplained or idiopathic infertility. This means that, using current tests, neither partner has been diagnosed with any detectable problem. Published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online, and carried out by Professor Sheena Lewis ...

Cancer therapy -- Nanokey opens tumors to attack

2012-11-14

There are plenty of effective anticancer agents around. The problem is that, very often, they cannot gain access to all the cells in solid tumors. A new gene delivery vehicle may provide a way of making tracks to the heart of the target. Many types of tumor form a compact mass, like the phalanx formation of Greek antiquity. And although many drugs are known to be toxic to cancer cells, they are often unable to percolate into the inner recesses of the tumor. Upon intravenous administration, for instance, cytotoxic drugs may only be able to penetrate the outermost layers ...

Changing climate, not tourism, seems to be driving decline in chinstrap-penguin populations

2012-11-14

The breeding population of chinstrap penguins has declined significantly as temperatures have rapidly warmed on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to researchers funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The study indicates that changing climatic conditions, rather than the impact of tourism, have had the greatest effect on the chinstrap population. Ron Naveen, founder of a nonprofit science and conservation organization, Oceanites, Inc., of Chevy Chase, Md., documented the decline in a paper published in the journal Polar Biology. Naveen and coauthor ...

Preserving van Gogh's priceless masterpieces

2012-11-14

The chrome yellow pigment that renowned post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh favored in priceless masterpieces like Sunflowers, the Yellow House and Wheatfield with Crows is especially sensitive to certain types of light and should be protected to prevent darkening. That's the conclusion of a series of studies in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry, which could help preserve masterpieces by van Gogh and contemporaries like Gauguin, Cézanne and others. Koen Janssens and colleagues explain that the chrome yellow pigment used by van Gogh and others in the 19th and 20th ...

Boosting the sensitivity of airport security screening

2012-11-14

Scientists are reporting a simple way to improve the sensitivity of the test often used to detect traces of explosives on the hands, carry-ons and other possessions of passengers at airport security screening stations. Their report appears in ACS' The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. Yehuda Zeiri and colleagues explain that most tests for traces of explosives begin by rubbing a swab made from glass fiber, Teflon or cotton over the suspect material. Analysis of the swab in a detector — usually a device called an ion mobility spectrometer — alerts agents to any explosive ...

Ingredient in diarrhea medicine leads to sustainable new farm fertilizer

2012-11-14

The search for a sustainable slow-release fertilizer — a key to sustaining global food production at a time of burgeoning population growth — has led scientists to an ingredient used in some diarrhea medicines. They describe use of the substance, attapulgite, as a "carrier" for plant nutrients in a report in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Boli Ni and colleagues explain that about half of the 150 million tons of fertilizer used worldwide every year goes to waste. That's because most fertilizers release nutrients too fast for the crops to use. ...

Smoking affects allergy-relevant stem cells

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: