American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on June 22, 2005
American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 162(2):133-138; doi:10.1093/aje/kwi170
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American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Invited Commentary: Sibship Effects and a Call for a Comparative Disease Approach
1 Department of Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
2 Henry Ford Health Sciences Center, Detroit, MI
Correspondence to Dr. Wilfried Karmaus, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 800 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208-0001 (e-mail: karmaus@gwm.sc.edu).
Received for publication March 3, 2005. Accepted for publication March 22, 2005.
Abbreviations: HLA, human leukocyte antigen; IDDM, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; MHC, major histocompatibility complex; Th, T helper
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INTRODUCTION |
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Golding and Peters (1
) broke new ground in 1986 when reporting the protective effect of a larger sibship (children of the same parents) against the risk of allergic disorders. Subsequent studies have repeatedly shown strong negative associations between sibship size and asthma, atopic eczema, hay fever, and allergy markers (2, 3). These effects are stronger than most other risks of allergic manifestations and are based on epidemiologic associations without an a priori biologic foundation.
Based on various immunologic explanations, a number of hypotheses related to the etiology of allergic disorders have emerged over the last 20 years. To begin with, T helper (Th) cell immune responses were polarized into either Th1 or Th2 (4). The nonallergic Th1 phenotype leads to secretion of immunoglobulin G antibodies and removal of the allergen (5, 6). The allergic Th2 response is characterized by the secretion of cytokines that
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WHAT DOES SIBSHIP EXPLAIN? |
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THE SIBLING EFFECT AND THE INCREASING INCIDENCE OF ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES |
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INTERPREGNANCY INTERVALS |
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SPLITTING—DIFFERENT MECHANISMS FOR ASTHMA AND RHINITIS? |
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UNITING: FIRST PREGNANCIES, FIRSTBORNS, AND LONGER INTERPREGNANCY INTERVALS ARE RISK FACTORS FOR SEVERAL DISEASES |
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COMPARATIVE DISEASE APPROACHES |
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