Early Life Urinary Eicosanoid Levels Linked to Childhood Atopic Disease Risk: Study

The study, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, suggests that early life perturbations in the eicosanoid metabolism are present before the atopic disease onset in childhood, providing pathophysiological insight into the inception of atopic diseases.

Atopic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema, are common chronic conditions that affect millions of children worldwide. Despite extensive research, the precise mechanisms underlying the development of atopic diseases remain incompletely understood, highlighting the need for further exploration into novel biomarkers and risk factors.

Eicosanoids are lipid mediators, including prostaglandins (PGs), thromboxanes (TXs), and leukotrienes (LTs) with a pathophysiological role in established atopic disease. However, there is no clarity on their role in the inception of the disease. Liang Chen, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues aimed to investigate the association between urinary eicosanoids in early life and the development of atopic disease.

For this purpose, the researchers quantified the levels of 21 eicosanoids in urine from children from the COPSAC2010 (age 1 year, n=450) and VDAART (age 3 years, n=575) mother-child cohorts. They analyzed the associations with the development of atopic dermatitis, wheeze/asthma, and biomarkers of type-2 inflammation, applying FDR5% multiple testing correction.

The study led to the following findings:

· In both cohorts, analyses adjusted for environmental determinants showed that higher TXA2 eicosanoids in early life were associated with an increased risk of developing atopic dermatitis

· In VDAART, lower PGE2 and PGI2 eicosanoids and higher isoprostanes were also associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis

· For asthma/wheeze, analyses in COPSAC2010 showed that lower isoprostanes and PGF2 eicosanoids and higher PGD2 eicosanoids at age 1 year were associated with an increased risk at age 1-10 years. In contrast, analyses in VDAART showed that lower PGE2 and higher TXA2 eicosanoids at age three years were associated with an increased risk at six years

"Early life perturbations in the eicosanoid pathways measured in urine samples may predict later risk of atopic disease and provide pathophysiological insight in the inception of atopic diseases," the researchers wrote.

Reference:

Chen L, Brustad N, Kim M, Luo Y, Wang T, Ali M, Prince N, Chen Y, Chu S, Begum S, Mendez K, Kelly RS, Schoos AM, Rasmussen MA, Zurita J, Kolmert J, Stokholm J, Litonjua A, Weiss ST, Bønnelykke K, Wheelock CE, Lasky-Su J, Chawes B. Urinary eicosanoid levels in early life and risk of atopic disease in childhood. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024 May 31:S0091-6749(24)00565-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2024.05.022. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38825025.