Australian research team's exposure to air pollution during pregnancy affects children's increased risk of asthma...epigenetic changes
May 21, 2025
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Asthma is a chronic allergic inflammatory disease that occurs in the bronchial tubes and is known to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Recently, research has been active to find the cause of the increase in asthma prevalence in environmental changes.
At the American Thoracic Society conference (ATS 2025) in San Francisco, Australia, Dr. Razia Kazarya's team at Sydney University of Technology said in a mouse study that they found that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy causes epigenetic changes that have a lasting effect on the lungs and immune responses of offspring.
The research team investigated the impact of mothers' exposure to air pollution on mice. First, one group of pregnant mice was exposed to air pollution microparticles (the World Health Organization (WHO) standard 'safety' level) and the other group was exposed to harmless saline. The offspring born in each group were then divided into groups with and without asthma to investigate the airway contraction response to allergenic antigens, and the differences in genes expressed in the lungs of the offspring were compared.
Studies have shown that the offspring of mice exposed to air pollution during pregnancy had a stronger airway contraction response to allergy-induced antigens after becoming adults, resulting in more severe asthma symptoms than those of mothers not exposed to air pollution.
In addition, it was found that the offspring of mice exposed to air pollution expressed thousands of genes in the lungs differently from those of mothers who were not exposed to air pollution. The mother's exposure to air pollution has changed the DNA methylation pattern that regulates genetic activity.
Dr. Zakariya said "This study suggests that epigenetic 'memory effects' from prenatal air pollution exposure persist into adulthood, affecting the way genes are regulated related to lung function and immune responses."
The research team said the study emphasizes the importance of environmental management during pregnancy and shows the need to improve policies to block air pollution exposure. Indirect exposure alone increases the risk of asthma, and it is pointed out that current WHO standards may not be sufficient to protect pregnant women.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
