The environment, epigenome, and asthma

Ivana V Yang; Catherine A Lozupone; David A Schwartz

doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2017.05.011

The environment, epigenome, and asthma

J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017 Jul;140(1):14-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2017.05.011.

Authors

Ivana V Yang¹, Catherine A Lozupone², David A Schwartz³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo; National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo; Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colo. Electronic address: ivana.yang@ucdenver.edu.
² Department of Medicine, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo.
³ Department of Medicine, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo; National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo; Department of Immunology, University of Colorado, Denver, Colo.

Abstract

Asthma prevalence has been on the increase, especially in North America compared with other continents. However, the prevalence of asthma differs worldwide, and in many countries the prevalence is stable or decreasing. This highlights the influence of environmental exposures, such as allergens, air pollution, and the environmental microbiome, on disease etiology and pathogenesis. The epigenome might provide the unifying mechanism that translates the influence of environmental exposures to changes in gene expression, respiratory epithelial function, and immune cell skewing that are hallmarks of asthma. In this review we will introduce the concept of the environmental epigenome in asthmatic patients, summarize previous publications of relevance to this field, and discuss future directions.

Keywords: Asthma; DNA methylation; air pollution; allergens; epigenetics; microbiome; nasal epithelium.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Air Pollution
Allergens
Animals
Asthma / genetics*
Environmental Exposure*
Epigenomics
Humans
Microbiota

Substances

Allergens

Grants and funding

R01 HL101251/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States