Premium
Antihistamine medication may alleviate negative effects of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) on lung function in children. Birth cohort prospective study
Author(s) -
Jedrychowski Wieslaw A.,
Perera Frederica P.,
Maugeri Umberto,
Majewska Renata,
Spengler Jack,
Mroz Elzbieta,
Flak Elzbieta,
KlimaszewskaRembiasz Maria,
Camman David
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pediatric pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.866
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1099-0496
pISSN - 8755-6863
DOI - 10.1002/ppul.23104
Subject(s) - antihistamine , medicine , lung , lung function , asthma , physiology , cohort , prospective cohort study , cohort study , anesthesia
Summary The main purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the depressed lung growth attributable to prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) may be modified by the intake of antihistamine medications. Individual prenatal PAH exposure was assessed by personal air monitoring in 176 children who were followed over nine years, in the course of which outdoor residential air monitoring, allergic skin tests for indoor allergens, lung function tests (FVC, FEV 1 , FEV 05 , and FEF 25‐75 ) were performed. The analysis with the General Estimated Equation (GEE) showed no association between prenatal PAH exposure and lung function in the group of children who were reported to be antihistamine users. However, in the group of antihistamine non‐users all lung function tests except for FEF 25‐75 were significantly and inversely associated with prenatal airborne PAH exposure. The results of the study suggest that the intake of antihistamine medications in early childhood may inhibit the negative effect of fetal PAH exposure on lung growth and provides additional indirect evidence for the hypothesis that lung alterations in young children resulting from PAH exposure may be caused by the allergic inflammation within lung. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015; 50:469–478. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.