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Antibacterial antibody responses associated with the development of asthma in house dust mite-sensitised and non-sensitised childrenWe aimed to measure the antibody development to 2 bacteria in a birth cohort at high risk of allergic disease, and to assess which responses are asthma-linked.
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Atopy-dependent and independent immune responses in the heightened severity of atopics to respiratory viral infections: Rat model studiesThe co-exposure responses in the Th2high BN incorporated type I interferon/Th1, alternative macrophage activation/Th2 and Th17 signatures
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Elucidation of pathways driving asthma pathogenesis: Development of a systems-level analytic strategyWhereas asthma was rare in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the marked increase in its incidence and prevalence since the 1960s points to substantial gene ×...
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Restricted aeroallergen access to airway mucosal dendritic cells in vivo limits allergen-specificChronic innocuous aeroallergen exposure attenuates CD4+ T cell-mediated airways hyperresponsiveness in mice; however, the mechanism(s) remain unclear
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Epithelial-dendritic cell interactions in allergic disordersAirway epithelial cells act through multiple mechanisms to function as an important component of the pulmonary defence strategy that is crucial...
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Protection against neonatal respiratory viral infection via maternal treatment during pregnancy with the benign immune training agent OM-85Incomplete maturation of immune regulatory functions at birth is antecedent to the heightened risk for severe respiratory infections during infancy. Our forerunner animal model studies demonstrated that maternal treatment with the microbial-derived immune training agent OM-85 during pregnancy promotes accelerated postnatal maturation of mechanisms that regulate inflammatory processes in the offspring airways.
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The intersect of genetics, environment, and microbiota in asthma-perspectives and challengesIn asthma, a significant portion of the interaction between genetics and environment occurs through microbiota. The proposed mechanisms behind this interaction are complex and at times contradictory. This review covers recent developments in our understanding of this interaction: the "microbial hypothesis" and the "farm effect"; the role of endotoxin and genetic variation in pattern recognition systems; the interaction with allergen exposure; the additional involvement of host gut and airway microbiota; the role of viral respiratory infections in interaction with the 17q21 and CDHR3 genetic loci; and the importance of in utero and early-life timing of exposures.
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Acute viral bronchiolitis in infants and young childrenThis project aims to plug this knowledge gap, and to open up new opportunities for development of better treatments targeted specifically at infants.
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Maternal diet modulates the infant microbiome and intestinal Flt3L necessary for dendritic cell development and immunity to respiratory infectionPoor maternal diet during pregnancy is a risk factor for severe lower respiratory infections in the offspring, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that in mice a maternal low-fiber diet led to enhanced LRI severity in infants because of delayed plasmacytoid dendritic cell recruitment and perturbation of regulatory T cell expansion in the lungs.
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Risk factors for bronchial hyperresponsiveness in teenagers differ with sex and atopic statusSex-related differences in bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) have been reported in adolescents, but the mechanisms remain obscure.