Asthma in farm children is more determined by genetic polymorphisms and in non‐farm children by environmental factors

Abstract

Background The asthma syndrome is influenced by hereditary and environmental factors. With the example of farm exposure, we study whether genetic and environmental factors interact for asthma. Methods Statistical learning approaches based on penalized regression and decision trees were used to predict asthma in the GABRIELA study with 850 cases (9% farm children) and 857 controls (14% farm children). Single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected from a genome‐wide dataset based on a literature search or by statistical selection techniques. Prediction was assessed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and validated in the PASTURE cohort. Results Prediction by family history of asthma and atopy yielded an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.62 [0.57‐0.66] in the random forest machine learning approach. By adding information on demographics (sex and age) and 26 environmental exposure variables, the quality of prediction significantly improved (AUC = 0.65 [0.61‐0.70]). In farm children, however, environmental variables did not improve prediction quality. Rather SNPs related to IL33 and RAD50 contributed significantly to the prediction of asthma (AUC = 0.70 [0.62‐0.78]). Conclusions Asthma in farm children is more likely predicted by other factors as compared to non‐farm children though in both forms, family history may integrate environmental exposure, genotype and degree of penetrance.

Breastfeeding duration modified the effects of neonatal and familial risk factors on childhood asthma and allergy: a population-based study

“…Similar to previous studies [2,17,19,[27][28][29], we found that family history of allergy was strongly associated with increased OR of childhood asthma and allergic diseases. Longer breastfeeding duration could reduce these ORs.…”

Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration Modified the Effects of Neonatal and Familiar Risk Factors on Childhood Asthma and Allergy: A Population-Based Study

“…Similar to previous studies [2,17,19,[27][28][29], we found that family history of allergy was strongly associated with the risk of childhood asthma and allergic diseases. Longer breastfeeding duration could reduce these risks.…”

Human β-Defensin 2 Mutations Are Associated With Asthma and Atopy in Children and Its Application Prevents Atopic Asthma in a Mouse Model

“…Diverse microbial exposure in early life as well as the individual's personal capacity to mount adequate immunological responses seem to be crucial to avoid asthma and allergy development (28). A significant part of the genetic susceptibility for asthma and allergy may be driven by variation in genes contributing to immunological processes, depending also on differences in environmental exposure (28).…”

“…Diverse microbial exposure in early life as well as the individual's personal capacity to mount adequate immunological responses seem to be crucial to avoid asthma and allergy development (28). A significant part of the genetic susceptibility for asthma and allergy may be driven by variation in genes contributing to immunological processes, depending also on differences in environmental exposure (28). While recent studies on the subject have used genome-wide association study (GWAS) data, crucial regions of the genome are not covered in this approach: the genetic locus containing multiple defensin genes including hBD-2 on chromosome 8 is one of them.…”