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Review
. 2022 Nov;6(11):810-819.
doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00215-2. Epub 2022 Aug 16.

Allergies to food and airborne allergens in children and adolescents: role of epigenetics in a changing environment

Erik Melén  1 , Gerard H Koppelman  2 , Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera  3 , Zorana Jovanovic Andersen  4 , Supinda Bunyavanich  5
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Allergies to food and airborne allergens in children and adolescents: role of epigenetics in a changing environment

Erik Melén et al. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2022 Nov.
Free article

Abstract

Allergic diseases affect millions of children and adolescents worldwide. In this Review, we focus on allergies to food and airborne allergens and provide examples of prevalence trends during a time when climate change is of increasing concern. Profound environmental changes have affected natural systems in terms of biodiversity loss, air pollution, and climate. We discuss the potential links between these changes and allergic diseases in children, and the clinical implications. Several exposures of relevance for allergic disease also correlate with epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation. We propose that epigenetics could be a promising tool by which exposures and hazards related to a changing environment can be captured. Epigenetics might also provide promising biomarkers and help to elucidate the mechanisms related to allergic disease initiation and progress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests EM reports consultant or advisory board fees from ALK-Abelló A/S, AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Novartis, and Sanofi, outside the submitted work; and is supported by grants from the Horizon 2020 research programme (European Research Council: a translational approach to identify biomarkers for asthma and lung function impairment, grant number 757919 and the Exposome powered tools for healthy living in urban settings project, grant number 874627), the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Heart–Lung Foundation, and Region Stockholm. GHK reports participation in advisory boards for GSK and PURE-IMS (money to institution) and is supported by grants from ZON-MW (VICI grant), Netherlands Lung Foundation, H2020 research programme (Prominent project), GSK, Vertex, and TEVA the Netherlands. ZJA is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge programme (grant number NNF17OC0027812). SB is supported by grants from the US National Institutes of Health (grant numbers R01 AI118833, R01 AI147028, U01 AI160082, and U19 AI136053). AMV-C has no competing interests.