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The effects of maternal smoking on early mucosal immunity and sensitization at 12 months of ageIn this study, we examined the effects of maternal smoking as a major adverse exposure in early life, on mucosal immune function and allergen sensitization...
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My child is wheezing – what should I do?Almost 50 per cent of preschool children will experience at least one episode of wheeze, a whistling sound produced by the airways during breathing.
Research
Association between pertussis vaccination in infancy and childhood asthma: A population-based record linkage cohort studyAsthma is among the commonest noncommunicable diseases of childhood and often occurs with other atopic comorbidities. A previous case-control study found evidence that compared to children who received acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines in early infancy, children who received one or more doses of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine had lower risk of developing IgE-mediated food allergy. We hypothesized that wP vaccination in early infancy might protect against atopic asthma in childhood.
The Airway Epithelial Research Team is investigating the role of the epithelium in the development of airway diseases including asthma, cystic fibrosis and lung transplant rejection.
Research
Targeting the mucosal immune system in a pregnant mouse model to prevent experimental allergic airways disease in the offspringStudies in Europe show exposure of pregnant women to high levels of microbial products stimulate immune function maturation in their offspring
Research
Maternal diet modulates the infant microbiome and intestinal Flt3L necessary for dendritic cell development and immunity to respiratory infectionPoor maternal diet during pregnancy is a risk factor for severe lower respiratory infections in the offspring, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that in mice a maternal low-fiber diet led to enhanced LRI severity in infants because of delayed plasmacytoid dendritic cell recruitment and perturbation of regulatory T cell expansion in the lungs.
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Relationship between cytokine expression patterns and clinical outcomes: two population-based birth cohortsOur findings suggest that positive HDM 'allergy tests' and asthma are associated with a broad range of immunophenotypes, which may have important...
Research
World Allergy Organization-McMaster University Guidelines for Allergic Disease Prevention (GLAD-P): Vitamin DVitamin D is involved in the regulation of the immune system and it may play a role in the development, severity and course of asthma and other allergic...
Research
Pulmonary microRNA profiles identify involvement of Creb1 and Sec14l3 in bronchial epithelial changes in allergic asthmaIn this study, we aimed to use microRNAs-which are critical regulators of signaling cascades-to identify so far uncharacterized asthma pathogenesis pathways
Research
Mannitol challenge testing for asthma in a community cohort of young adultsWe aimed to quantify the diagnostic utility of mannitol challenge testing for asthma in a community cohort and a symptomatic wheezing subset of this cohort.