Tabea Brick

Background: Childhood asthma is often preceded by early wheeze. Usually, wheezing episodes are recorded retrospectively, which may induce recall bias.Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate true‐positive recall of parent‐reported wheeze at 1 year of age, its determinants, and its implications for asthma and lung function at 6 years of age.Methods: The PASTURE (Protection Against Allergy—Study in Rural Environments) study followed 880 children from rural areas in 5 European countries from birth to age 6 years. Wheeze symptoms in the first year were asked weekly. At age 6, parent‐reported asthma diagnosis was ascertained and lung function measurements were conducted. Correct parental recall of wheeze episodes at the end of the first year was assessed for associations with lung function, asthma, and the asthma risk locus on chromosome 17q21.Results: Parents correctly recalled wheeze after the first year in 54% of wheezers. This true‐positive recall was determined by number of episodes, timing of the last wheeze episode, and parental asthma. Independently from these determinants, true‐positive recall predicted asthma at age 6 years (odds ratio 4.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.75‐14.16]) and impaired lung function (β = −0.62, 95% CI [−1.12; −0.13], P‐value = .02). Associations were stronger in children with asthma risk SNPs on chromosome 17q21.Conclusion: Correct parental recall of wheezing episodes may reflect clinical relevance of early wheeze and its impact on subsequent asthma and lung function impairment. Questions tailored to parental perception of wheezing episodes may further enhance asthma prediction.

Consumption of raw cow’s milk instead of industrially processed milk has been reported to protect children from developing asthma, allergies, and respiratory infections. Several heat-sensitive milk serum proteins have been implied in this effect though unbiased assessment of milk proteins in general is missing. The aim of this study was to compare the native milk serum proteome between raw cow’s milk and various industrially applied processing methods, i.e., homogenization, fat separation, pasteurization, ultra-heat treatment (UHT), treatment for extended shelf-life (ESL), and conventional boiling. Each processing method was applied to the same three pools of raw milk. Levels of detectable proteins were quantified by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry following filter aided sample preparation. In total, 364 milk serum proteins were identified. The 140 proteins detectable in 66% of all samples were entered in a hierarchical cluster analysis. The resulting proteomics pattern separated mainly as high (boiling, UHT, ESL) versus no/low heat treatment (raw, skimmed, pasteurized). Comparing these two groups revealed 23 individual proteins significantly reduced by heating, e.g., lactoferrin (log2-fold change = −0.37, p = 0.004), lactoperoxidase (log2-fold change = −0.33, p = 0.001), and lactadherin (log2-fold change = −0.22, p = 0.020). The abundance of these heat sensitive proteins found in higher quantity in native cow’s milk compared to heat treated milk, renders them potential candidates for protection from asthma, allergies, and respiratory infections.