Journal
CHEST
Volume 139, Issue 3, Pages 640-647Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1378/chest.10-1800
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Fellowship
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Uterine life is arguably the most critical time in developmental programming, when environmental exposures may have the greatest potential to influence evolving fetal structure and function. There has been substantial progress in understanding the epigenetic mechanisms through which environmental exposures can permanently alter the expression of fetal genes and contribute to the increasing propensity for many complex diseases. These concepts of developmental origins of disease are being applied across virtually all fields of medicine, and emerging epigenetic paradigms are the likely mechanism behind the environment-driven epidemic of asthma and allergic disease. Here, we examine the epigenetic regulation of immune development and the early immune profiles that contribute to allergic risk. In particular we review new evidence that key environmental exposures, such as microbial exposure, dietary changes, tobacco smoke, and pollutants, can induce epigenetic changes in gene expression and alter disease risk. Although most of these factors have already been clearly implicated in epidemiologic studies of asthma and allergic disease, new studies investigating the mechanisms of these effects may provide new avenues for using these pathways for disease prevention. CHEST 2011; 139(3):640-647
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available