Trans- and inter-generational epigenetic inheritance in allergic diseases

Publication date: Available online 21 July 2018

Source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Author(s): Toril Mørkve Knudsen, Faisal I. Rezwan, Yu Jiang, Wilfried Karmaus, Cecilie Svanes, John W. Holloway

ABSTRACT

It has become clear that early life (including in utero exposures), is a key window of vulnerability where environmental exposures can alter developmental trajectories and initiate allergic disease development. However, recent evidence suggests that there may be additional windows of vulnerability to environmental exposures in the parental generation before conception, or even in previous generations. There is evidence suggesting that information of prior exposures can be transferred across generations, and experimental animal models suggest that such transmission may be conveyed through epigenetic mechanisms. While the molecular mechanisms of inter- and trans-generation epigenetic transmission have yet to be determined, the realisation that environment before conception may alter risks of allergic diseases, has profound implications for the development of public health interventions to prevent disease. Future research in both experimental models and in multigenerational human cohorts is needed to better understand the role of inter- and trans-generational effects in asthma and allergic disease. This will provide the knowledge basis for a new approach to efficient intervention strategies aimed at reducing the major public health challenge of these conditions.

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