Grantee Research Project Results

2008 Progress Report: Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Biomarkers, and Childhood Asthma

EPA Grant Number: R830826
Title: Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Biomarkers, and Childhood Asthma
Investigators: Klonoff-Cohen, Hillary
Current Investigators: Klonoff-Cohen, Hillary , Platzker, Arnold
Institution: University of California - San Diego
Current Institution: University of California San Diego
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2009 (Extended to June 30, 2010)
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2007 through June 30,2008
Project Amount: $750,000
RFA: Biomarkers for the Assessment of Exposure and Toxicity in Children (2002) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health

Objective:

Asthma is a complex disease caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. It is the most common chronic disease of childhood, occurring in 10% of children in the US (compared to 11.9% in California), and costing $3.2 billion per year for treatment. Surprisingly, children 0 to 4 years suffering from asthma, have the highest hospitalization and prevalence rates in the U.S. Currently, one of the great challenges in pediatric respiratory medicine is to identify beginning stages of asthma, since loss of lung function occurs within the first 3 years of life. The use of biomarkers may have important implications for the detection, prevention, and treatment of environmentally induced diseases in children. This research will identify and evaluate two biomarkers, urine eosinophil protein X (uEPX) and serum eosinophil cationic protein (sECP) that may play a role in predicting childhood asthma. Secondly, ECP and EPX will be measured in infants to assess whether early lung inflammation from asthma is compounded by ETS exposure in utero and/or postnatally.

Progress Summary:

We have currently recruited approximately 140 cases and 130 controls for the study. Our major changes since the last report were the addition of new sites and personnel. We recently established sites with the Navy Medical Center San Diego, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, and the ER’s at Stanford University, and Children’s Hospital of Oakland. In addition, three new pre-med student volunteers, and a Masters in Public Health student were hired to assist on the project.

Future Activities:

Vigorous recruitment of the remaining eligible patients will continue in order to fulfill the desired final sample size. Infants with a genetic predisposition to asthma that are diagnosed with the disease, and exposed to ETS in utero will have the highest serum ECP and urine EPX values. Furthermore, unexposed asthmatics (with a genetic predisposition) or ETS exposed healthy children will have intermediate values, whereas healthy unexposed infants will have the lowest serum ECP and urine EPX values. If these results are confirmed, the inflammatory markers in urine and blood could be easily introduced into the clinical arena of pediatric pulmonary medicine.

Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format

Publications Views
Other project views:	All 3 publications	1 publications in selected types	All 1 journal articles

Publications
Type	Citation	Project	Document Sources
Journal Article	Klonoff-Cohen H, Polavarapu M. Eosinophil protein X and childhood asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease 2016;4(2):114-134.	R830826 (2008)	Full-text from PubMed Abstract from PubMed Associated PubMed link Full-text: Wiley-Full Text HTML Exit Abstract: Wiley-Abstract Exit Other: Wiley-Full Text PDF Exit

Supplemental Keywords:

inflammatory markers, environmental tobacco smoke, pediatric asthma,

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.