Antihistamine medication may alleviate negative effects of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) on lung function in children. Birth cohort prospective study

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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, FEV1, FEV05, and FEF25‐75) 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 FEF25‐75 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. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015; 50:469–478.
Funding Information
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01 ES010165)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01 ES015282)
  • International Center for Research in Biommedicine, Luxembourg

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