Clin Exp Allergy. 2022 Jul 21. doi: 10.1111/cea.14207. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
It is increasingly recognised that children with asthma are at a higher risk of other non-allergic concurrent diseases than the non-asthma population. A plethora of recent research has reported on these comorbidities and progress has been made into understanding the mechanisms for comorbidity. The goal of this review was to assess the most recent evidence (2016-2021) on the extent of common comorbidities (obesity, depression & anxiety, neurodevelopmental disorders, sleep disorders and autoimmune diseases) and the latest mechanistic research, highlighting knowledge gaps requiring further investigation. We found the majority of recent studies from around the world demonstrates that children with asthma are at an increased risk of having at least one of the studied comorbidities. A range of potential mechanisms were identified including common early life risk factors, common genetic factors, causal relationships, asthma medication and embryologic origins. Studies varied in their selection of population, asthma definition and outcome definitions. Next steps in future studies should include using objective measures of asthma, such as lung function and immunological data, as well as investigating asthma phenotypes and endotypes. Larger complex genetic analyses are needed, including genome wide association studies, gene expression- functional as well as pathway analyses, or Mendelian Randomization techniques; and identification of gene-environment interactions, such as epi-genetic studies or twin analyses, including omics and early life exposure data. Importantly, research should have relevance to clinical and public health translation including clinical practice, asthma management guidelines and intervention studies aimed at reducing comorbidities.
PMID:35861116 | DOI:10.1111/cea.14207
