Genetic characterization of preschool wheeze phenotypes.

Rationale: Preschool wheeze is a heterogenous and poorly understood clinical syndrome. As a result, current treatments are insufficient, and prevention is not possible.

Objectives: To increase understanding of the genetic susceptibility and underlying disease mechanisms of wheeze phenotypes in early childhood through large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses.

Circulating microRNAs as Potential Diagnostic Tools for Asthma and for Indicating Severe Asthma Risk.

Asthma places a significant burden at individual and societal levels, but there remains no gold-standard objective test for asthma diagnosis or asthma severity risk prediction. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA sequences that are attracting interest as biological signatures of health and disease status. We sought to construct serum miRNA panels that could serve as potential biomarkers to aid in the diagnosis of asthma and predict asthma severity.

Trends in DNA Methylation over Time Between Parous and Nulliparous Young Women.

Background/objectives: The experience of pregnancy and parturition has been associated with long-term health effects in mothers, imparting protective effects against some diseases while the risk of other diseases is increased. The mechanisms that drive these altered disease risks are unknown. This study examined DNA methylation (DNAm) changes from pre-pregnancy to several years after giving birth in parous women compared to nulliparous controls over the same time interval.

Gene-Environment Interaction Affects Risk of Atopic Eczema: Population and In Vitro Studies.

Background: Multiple environmental and genetic factors play a role in the pathogenesis of atopic eczema (AE). We aimed to investigate gene-environment interactions (G × E) to improve understanding of the pathophysiology.

Methods: We analysed data from 16 European studies to test for interaction between the 24 most significant AE-associated loci identified from genome-wide association studies and 18 early-life environmental factors.

Maternal asthma and newborn DNA methylation.

Background: Prenatal exposure to maternal asthma may influence DNA methylation patterns in offspring, potentially affecting their susceptibility to later diseases including asthma.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between parental asthma and newborn blood DNA methylation.

Methods: Epigenome-wide association analyses were conducted in 13 cohorts on 7433 newborns with blood methylation data from the Illumina450K or EPIC array.

Biochemical validation for the therapeutic use of Plumeria rubra in coagulation disorders: a study combining in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches.

Local healers in South Asia use Plumeria rubra Linn. leaves to treat various coagulation disorders in animals and humans. This study (in silico, in vitro, and in vivo) aimed to explore the pharmacological basis for the possible thrombolytic and anticlotting properties of the leaf extract of P.

Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) of three distinct human communities to germ-free mice exacerbated inflammation and decreased lung function in their offspring.

Unlabelled: Despite explosive rise in allergies, little is known about early life gut microbiota effects on postnatal respiratory function. We hypothesized that -dominant gut microbiota from eczemic infants increases Type 2 inflammation and decreases lung function in transplanted mice, while -dominant gut microbiota from non-eczemic infants is protective. Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) from eczemic infants "Infant A" and non-eczemic infants "Infant B" were successfully transplanted into germ-free C57BL/6 mice, passing to offspring unchanged.

Biomarker-driven drug development for allergic diseases and asthma: An FDA public workshop.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hosted a workshop on February 22, 2024, to discuss the status of biomarkers in drug development for allergic asthma and food allergy. The workshop provided a forum for open discussion among regulators, academicians, National Institutes of Health staff and industry to inform stakeholders of the requirements for the FDA to adopt a biomarker as a surrogate end point for a clinical trial, and to inform FDA of the status of various biomarkers in development. The workshop was divided into 3 sessions: (1) FDA and European Union regulators discussing regulatory perspectives on use of biomarkers in drug development programs, (2) investigators discussing biomarkers for pediatric and adult asthma, and (3) investigators discussing biomarkers for food allergy.

The Association of Childhood Allergic Diseases with Prenatal Exposure to Pollen Grains Through At-Birth DNA Methylation.

Background: Pollen exposure in early life is shown to be associated with allergy and asthma. DNA methylation (DNAm), an epigenetic marker, potentially reacts to pollen. However, the role of at-birth DNAm between prenatal pollen grain (PPG) exposure and childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis is unknown.

The role of wheezing subtypes in the development of early childhood asthma.

Background: Early childhood wheezing is associated with asthma risk at later ages, emphasizing the need for understanding wheezing patterns and their implications for asthma development.

Methods: Children in the F2-generation (n = 603) of the Isle of Wight Birth Cohort (IOWBC) were followed-up at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 72 months. Prevalence of wheeze and wheeze type (general, infectious, and non-infectious) were recorded.

Trajectories of airflow limitation from childhood to early adulthood: an analysis of six population-based birth cohorts.

Background: Lung function during childhood is an important predictor of subsequent health and disease. Understanding patterns of lung function and development of airflow limitation through childhood is necessary to inform lung function trajectories in relation to health and chronic airway disease. We aimed to derive trajectories of airflow limitation from childhood (age 5-8 years) into early adulthood (age 20-26 years) using repeated spirometry data from birth cohorts.

DNA methylation at birth and IgE trajectories from birth to adolescence, different patterns between White and Asian.

Aim: We aim to assess association of DNA methylation (DNAm) at birth with total immunoglobulin E (IgE) trajectories from birth to late adolescence and whether such association is ethnicity-specific.

Methods: We examined the association of total IgE trajectories from birth to late adolescence with DNAm at birth in two independent birth cohorts, the Isle of wight birth cohort (IOWBC) in UK ( = 796; White) and the maternal and infant cohort study (MICS) in Taiwan ( = 60; Asian). Biological pathways and methylation quantitative trait loci (methQTL) for associated Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine sites were studied.

Generalized Bayesian kernel machine regression.

Kernel machine regression is a nonparametric regression method widely applied in biomedical and environmental health research. It employs a kernel function to measure the similarities between sample pairs, effectively identifying significant exposures and assessing their nonlinear impacts on outcomes. This article introduces an enhanced framework, the generalized Bayesian kernel machine regression.

Aligning practitioner's perception: Empowering MAST framework for evaluating telemedicine services.

Objective: Telemedicine is a digital substitute for in-person healthcare service delivery systems that has gained popularity amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study was to evaluate telemedicine compatibility from the perspective of healthcare practitioners to enhance the effectiveness and spectrum of the Model for Assessment of Telemedicine.

Method: Primary and Secondary Healthcare and King Edward Medical University extended their respective telemedicine services in 2020 where 24,516 patients were benefited from the telemedicine services provided by 1273 doctors from different specializations.

Pollen exposures in pregnancy and early life are associated with childhood asthma incidence.

Background: Pollen exposure is an environmental risk factor for asthma symptoms and allergic reactions in children. The extent to which pollen exposure in pregnancy and the first year of life influences the development of childhood asthma and rhinitis is not fully understood.

Objective: We aimed to investigate early life exposures to pollen with childhood asthma and rhinitis at age 6 in a longitudinal birth cohort of the United Kingdom.

Boruta-driven analysis of telehealth amalgamation across healthcare stratifications with diffuse-dual-channel and tiered-gatekeeper systems.

This study aimed to evaluate the adaptation and effectiveness of telemedicine with the diffuse-dual-channel system (DDS) and tiered-gatekeeper system (TGS) across different tiers of the healthcare system on technical-organizational-environmental (TOE) framework. The telemedicine services were extended as Tiered-gatekeeper system (TGS) by Primary and Secondary Healthcare (PSHC) and Diffuse-dual-channel system (DDS) by King Edward Medical University (KEMU) in 2020 benefiting 2605 and 21,905 patients, respectively. This cross-sectional survey is based on a structured questionnaire conducted on 172 healthcare practitioners (HCP) from KEMU and 76 from PSHC selected by purposive sampling and analysis is conducted through descriptive analysis and the Boruta features selection method.

Radiological and Hematological Parameters Predicting Success of Medical Expulsive Therapy in Patients With Ureteral Calculus.

Background Urolithiasis, characterized by the formation of stones in the urinary tract, is a common condition with significant morbidity. Medical expulsive therapy (MET) has emerged as a non-invasive treatment modality for facilitating the spontaneous passage of ureteral stones. However, MET success varies widely among individuals, and identifying predictive factors for treatment outcomes is crucial for optimizing patient care.

Intergenerational association of DNA methylation between parents and offspring.

Early patterning of DNA methylation (DNAm) may play an important role in later disease development. To better understand intergenerational epigenetic inheritance, we investigated the correlation between DNAm in blood in mother-newborn and in father-newborn pairs in the Isle of Wight (IoW) birth cohort. For parent-newborn pairs (n = 48), offspring DNAm was measured in cord blood and the parent's DNAm in whole blood.

Epigenetic Features in Newborns Associated with Preadolescence Lung Function and Asthma Acquisition during Adolescence.

Unlabelled: The association between newborn DNA methylation (DNAm) and asthma acquisition (AA) during adolescence has been suggested. Lung function (LF) has been shown to be associated with asthma risk and its severity. However, the role of LF in the associations between DNAm and AA is unclear, and it is also unknown whether the association between DNAm and AA is consistent with that between DNAm and LF.

Multi-epitopes vaccine design for surface glycoprotein against SARS-CoV-2 using immunoinformatic approach.

Background: The recent COVID vaccinations have successfully reduced death and severity but did not stop the transmission of viruses by the emerging SARS-CoV-2 strain. There is a need for better and long-lasting dynamic vaccines for numerous prevailing strains and the evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus, necessitating the development of broad-spectrum strains being used to stop infection by reducing the spread rate and re-infection. The spike (S) glycoprotein is one of the proteins expressed commonly in the early phases of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium (PACE) meta-analysis highlights potential relationships between birth order and neonatal blood DNA methylation.

Higher birth order is associated with altered risk of many disease states. Changes in placentation and exposures to in utero growth factors with successive pregnancies may impact later life disease risk via persistent DNA methylation alterations. We investigated birth order with Illumina DNA methylation array data in each of 16 birth cohorts (8164 newborns) with European, African, and Latino ancestries from the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium.

Obstructive and restrictive spirometry from school age to adulthood: three birth cohort studies.

Background: Spirometric obstruction and restriction are two patterns of impaired lung function which are predictive of poor health. We investigated the development of these phenotypes and their transitions through childhood to early adulthood.

Methods: In this study, we analysed pooled data from three UK population-based birth cohorts established between 1989 and 1995.

Associations of Breathing Pattern Disorder and Nijmegen Score With Clinical Outcomes in Difficult-to-Treat Asthma.

Background: Breathing pattern disorder (BPD) reflects altered biomechanical patterns of breathing that drive breathing difficulty and commonly accompanies difficult-to-treat asthma. Diagnosis of BPD has no gold standard, but Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ) >23 is commonly used.

Objectives: We sought to advance clinical characterization of BPD and better understand the clinical utility of NQ in difficult asthma in patients from the Wessex AsThma CoHort of difficult asthma (WATCH) study.