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Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure linked to increase in infant eczema

ORLANDO, Fla. —   Smoke exposure during the third trimester of pregnancy could have the strongest effect on the development of eczema after birth, according to data presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Based on prior studies which associated environmental tobacco smoke with the development of atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome, Miwa Shinohara, MD, PhD, and colleagues, examined whether different periods of maternal tobacco smoke exposure exhibited different effects on the development of eczema.

“A recent study demonstrated that environmental tobacco smoke exposure was significantly associated with an increased rate of eczema in the offspring, whereas another study found no association. We wanted to see whether a particular trimester might be associated with an increased occurrence of eczema in the offspring,” Shinohara said in a press release.

The researchers registered 1,436 infants aged 2-18 months, administering questionnaires to gather information including family history of allergic diseases, number of older siblings, prenatal and postnatal maternal tobacco smoke exposure and the development of physician-diagnosed eczema.

According to the study results, the frequency of atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome was significantly increased in the infants exposed to tobacco smoke during third trimester pregnancy (aOR, 6.146; 95% CI, 1.282-29.453) than those without tobacco smoke exposure. The researchers observed no significant differences in the rate of eczema between the infants with no tobacco smoke exposure and those with exposure during the first trimester, during the first 6 months after birth and those exposed after the first 6 months.

“Tobacco smoke exposure during the third trimester seems to affect the development of the immune system in the offspring, which in turn facilitates development of eczema after birth,” Kenji Matsumoto, MD, PhD, said in a press release. “This also raises questions of whether or not tobacco smoke exposure may affect the innate immune responses of the skin.”

For more information:

• Shinohara M. #153. Presented at: the 2012 AAAAI Annual Meeting; March 2-6, 2012; Orlando.

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