title: Predictors of interleukin-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin levels in cord blood.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The fetal immune system is a critical window of development. The epithelial cell-derived cytokines, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), and interleukin-33 (IL-33) have received attention for their role in allergic responses but not been studied during this critical window. The objectives were to assess correlations among IL-33, TSLP, and IgE in umbilical cord blood samples and identify prenatal predictors of these biomarkers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study utilized data and banked cord blood collected in the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) Study, a trans-Canada cohort study of 2001 pregnant women. Our analytic sample comprised the 1254 women with a singleton, term birth with a cord blood sample. Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) and logistic regression models were used to examine associations between biomarkers and identify potential predictors of elevated biomarker levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thymic stromal lymphopoietin and IL-33 were more strongly correlated with each other (SCC = 0.75, p < 0.0001) than with IgE (IL-33 SCC = 0.14, TSLP SCC = 0.21). Maternal allergy, heavy street traffic, and elevated birth weight were significantly associated with jointly elevated TSLP and IL-33 levels, whereas maternal age and female infant sex were inversely associated with elevated IgE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this population of Canadian women and infants, TSLP and IL-33 were detectable in cord blood, more strongly correlated with each other than with IgE, and associated with maternal characteristics indicative of inflammatory responses. This study motivates investigation into the value of cord blood IL-33 and TSLP levels as childhood allergy predictors and raises interesting questions regarding in utero coordinated regulation of these cytokines.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary PhD Program, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ashley-Martin
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dodds
authors.forename: Tye E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Arbuckle
authors.forename: Adrian R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.forename: Jean S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Marshall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology; D000067596:Interleukin-33 / Q000097:blood*; D009035:Mothers; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult; D000094632:Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; C506536:IL33 protein, human; D000067596:Interleukin-33; D000094632:Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin
keywords: allergy; immunoglobulin E; interleukin-33; thymic stromal lymphopoietin; umbilical cord blood