title: Antihistamine medication may alleviate negative effects of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) on lung function in children. Birth cohort prospective study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Wieslaw A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Jedrychowski
authors.forename: Frederica P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Maugeri
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Majewska
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spengler
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mroz
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flak
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klimaszewska-Rembiasz
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camman
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000397:Air Pollution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006633:Histamine Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013147:Spirometry
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D006633:Histamine Antagonists; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: antihistamines; depressed lung function; modification effect; preadolescent children; prenatal PAH exposure