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. 2008 Mar 15;4(1):29-36.
doi: 10.1186/1710-1492-4-1-29. Epub 2008 Mar 15.

Stress and childhood asthma risk: overlapping evidence from animal studies and epidemiologic research

Rosalind J Wright  1
Affiliations

Stress and childhood asthma risk: overlapping evidence from animal studies and epidemiologic research

Rosalind J Wright. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. .

Abstract

: Rapidly expanding evidence increasingly strengthens the evidence linking psychological factors to asthma and allergy expression. Parallel studies in animals and humans demonstrating the influence of prenatal maternal stress and early caregiving experiences on the disrupted regulation of defensive biological systems [eg, sympathetic and adrenomedullary (SAM) system and the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis] provide strong proof of concept for this line of research. The consequent altered neuroimmune responses may influence the expression of immune-mediated disorders such as asthma as well as enhance an individual's susceptibility to other environmental factors that may also contribute to asthma risk.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual model linking prenatal maternal stress with childhood immunity. CNS = central nervous system; CRH = corticotropinreleasing hormone; NS = nervous system.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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