Patterns of farm exposure are associated with reduced incidence of atopic dermatitis in early life.
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ABSTRACT: Background
Farm exposures may reduce the risk of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children, but this is controversial and US data are limited.Objective
This study was conducted to identify patterns of farm exposure in Wisconsin family farms that modify AD incidence and prevalence in early childhood.Methods
Environmental exposures, health history, and clinical outcomes were prospectively recorded for 111 farm families and 129 non-farm families enrolled in the Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort birth cohort study. Exposures from the prenatal and early postnatal (2-month) visits were evaluated together with parental report of AD diagnosis by a health care provider through age 24 months. Latent class analysis was performed with prenatal and early postnatal farm-exposure variables to assign farm children to 3 classes.Results
Overall, children of farm families had reduced AD incidence (P = .03). Within farm families, exposures including poultry (3% vs 28%; P = .003), pig (4% vs 25%; P = .04), feed grain (13% vs 34%; P = .02), and number of animal species were inversely associated with AD incidence. Among the latent class groups, children in families with diverse or more intense farm exposures (classes A and B) had reduced AD incidence, whereas low-exposure (class C) infants had AD incidence similar to that in nonfarm children.Conclusions
Infants in Wisconsin farm families had reduced AD incidence, and patterns of farm exposures further defined AD risk. These findings suggest that exposure to diverse farm animals, feed, and bedding during the prenatal period and in early infancy reduce the risk of early-onset AD, a phenotype associated with multiple other atopic diseases.
SUBMITTER: Steiman CA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7721989 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:ImportanceAtopic dermatitis is associated with substantial morbidity in childhood. Further understanding of the underlying factors contributing to its onset is needed.ObjectiveTo assess the association of exposure to antibiotics in the prenatal period and early childhood with risk of atopic dermatitis in a nationwide population in Sweden.Design, setting, and participantsThis Swedish nationwide, register-based, prospective cohort study used data on mother-child pairs from the Swedish Medical Birth Register linked to other national registers for information on health, socioeconomic, and demographic data. Participants were followed up until an atopic dermatitis outcome, emigration, death, or the end of the study on December 31, 2015. Data for all singleton children and discordant siblings born between March 1, 2006, and December 31, 2010, were included. Data were analyzed from June 1, 2020, to October 31, 2020.ExposuresMaternal exposure to systemic antibiotics during pregnancy as well as the child's exposure to systemic antibiotics during the first year of life, as defined by a dispensed prescription in the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register.Main outcomes and measuresTime-to-event analyses were used to estimate the risk of outcome using attained age as a time scale. Atopic dermatitis was defined based on diagnoses in the National Patient Register and medication listed in the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Sibling-control analysis was performed to account for shared familial factors.ResultsAmong the 722 767 singleton children, the mean (SD) age was 5.8 (2.4) years and 351 589 (48.6%) were female. During the follow-up period, 153 407 children (21.2%) were exposed to antibiotics in utero and 172 405 children (23.8%) were exposed during the first year of life. The risk of atopic dermatitis among children exposed to prenatal antibiotics was greater than that among children who were not exposed (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.10; 95% CI, 1.09-1.12). In the sibling-control analysis, no association was observed (aHR, 0.96; 95% CI; 0.92-1.00). Exposure to antibiotics during the first year of life was associated with a greater risk of atopic dermatitis (aHR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.50-1.55), with attenuated associations in the sibling-control analysis (aHR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.20-1.29).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study, exposure to antibiotics in early life was associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis in the general Swedish population, but this risk was partially confounded by familial factors. Research on the ways in which antibiotic use and other shared familial factors affect other atopic diseases may be warranted.
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Project description:ImportanceWith increasing prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) and its manifestation in most countries, together with the supporting evidence of the progression to other atopic phenotypes, AD has developed into a worldwide public health concern. The presence of the disease of has increased since the 1950s, but some recent studies suggest a stationary or decreasing trend.ObjectiveTo analyze a nationwide health register based on prescription data to determine the incidence rate (IR) of AD in an entire pediatric population.Design, setting, and participantsAll children resident in Norway younger than 6 years from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2015, were included in this cohort study. Medical diagnoses and disease-specific medications were used as a proxy for identifying children with AD in this population-based prescription registry study. The prescription study was terminated in 2016. The total number of 295 286 disease-specific prescriptions was analyzed from August 2016 through December 2017. The hypothesis was formulated before, during, and after the data collection.Main outcomes and measuresAll children with a medical diagnosis of AD or eczema based on at least 2 prescriptions of topical corticosteroids or at least 1 prescription of topical calcineurin inhibitors. Incidence rates per person-year (PY) and IR ratios were calculated.ResultsA total of 295 286 disease-specific prescriptions were dispensed to 122 470 children, of whom 63 460 had AD and 56 009 (88.3%) had reimbursed prescriptions and associated AD diagnoses. The annual Norwegian study population (aged <6 years) increased from 357 451 children in 2009 to 373 954 in 2015. The overall IR increased from 0.028 per PY (95% CI, 0.028-0.029 per PY) in 2009 to 0.034 per PY (95% CI, 0.033-0.035 per PY) in 2014. For children younger than 1 year, the IR increased from 0.052 per PY (95% CI, 0.050-0.053 PY) in 2009 to 0.073 per PY (95% CI, 0.071-0.075 per PY) in 2014. In this age group, the IR was 53% higher in boys compared with girls (IR ratio, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.49-1.57; P < .001). The incidence proportion before the age of 6 years was 17.4% (95% CI, 17.2%-17.7%). The primary seasons for the onset of AD were winter and spring.Conclusions and relevanceThis nationwide study suggests an increase in the IR of pediatric AD, especially among children younger than 1 year. This study's findings suggest that increase occurred with a higher IR during winter and spring seasons. Atopic dermatitis had an earlier onset in boys than in girls. During the study period, more than 1 in 6 children younger than 6 years had, at some point, been affected by AD.
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Project description:Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and relapsing disease affecting an increasing number of patients. Usually starting in early childhood, AD can be the initial step of the so-called atopic march, i.e. followed by allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma. AD is a paradigmatic genetically complex disease involving gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. Genetic linkage analysis as well as association studies have identified several candidate genes linked to either the epidermal barrier function or to the immune system. Stress, bacterial or viral infections, the exposure to aero- or food-allergens as well as hygienic factors are discussed to aggravate symptoms of AD. Athough generalized Th2-deviated immune response is closely linked to the condition of AD, the skin disease itself is a biphasic inflammation with an initial Th2 phase and while chronic lesions harbour Th0/Th1 cells. Regulatory T cells have been shown to be altered in AD as well as the innate immune system in the skin. The main treatment-goals include the elimination of inflammation and infection, preserving and restoring the barrier function and controlling exacerbating factors. The overall future strategy in AD will be aimed to control skin inflammation by a more proactive management in order to potentially prevent the emergence of sensitization as well as to design customized management based on genetic and pathophysiologic information.
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