DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS RENO: RENO
Pediatric Asthma and Allergy Research
Background: Asthma is a disease that affects all age groups, but the highest incidence occurs during childhood. Hospital admissions and deaths from asthma have been increasing over the last 20 years. Very little information is available on asthma triggers or medication use which is immediately applicable to the rural children in the state of Nevada.
Clinical Research Projects: Current research projects are focused on the identification and treatment of disease triggers initiating asthma symptoms which also are applicable to the children of Nevada. Current projects are aimed at the evaluation of allergic triggers for asthma which have been previously underappreciated as causes of asthma attacks in children.
Preliminary work by our group suggests that insects such as caddisfly, may fly and house fly may be associated with increased allergic symptoms in asthmatic children. In addition, we are attempting to identify specific allergic components of many indoor and outdoor molds which may trigger asthma attacks in children. Future studies performed here at the University of Nevada School of Medicine will be aimed at identifying specific allergic triggers unique to the desert environment of Nevada which may be responsible for inducing allergic symptoms/asthma symptoms in children. These trigger can include ant and mold exposure associated with evaporative coolers utilized in desert homes.
In addition preliminary work by our group suggests that there are significant barriers to performing dust mite avoidance measures. However, there is little known about how animal avoidance measures are implemented in the homes of allergic and asthmatic children. Current studies are aimed to identify the barriers associated families of pet allergic kids applying prescribed animal avoidance measures.
Basic Science Projects: Recent data suggest that pulmonary inflammation has systemic effects on the bone marrow’s ability to produce asthma causing cells (eosinophils). These cells are ultimately released into the blood and circulate to the lung where they participate in causing asthma symptoms. Eosinophils have a limited life span and are continuously renewed from the bone marrow. Our experiments are focused upon determining the role of inflammatory mediators such as leukotrienes in the accelerated bone marrow eosinophil production seen during asthma.
