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Biomedical subjects

L Taussig

Publications and source records attributed to L Taussig.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Influence of parental smoking on respiratory symptoms during the first decade of life: the Tucson Children's Respiratory Study.

Compelling evidence suggests a causal relation between exposure to parental cigarette smoking and respiratory symptoms during childhood. Still, the roles of prenatal versus postnatal parental smoking need clarification. In this study, the authors assessed the effects of passive smoking on respiratory symptoms in a cohort of over 1,000 children born during 1980-1984. The children were enrolled in the Tucson Children's Respiratory Study in Tucson, Arizona, and were followed from birth to age 11 years. The population was generally middle class and consisted of two main ethnic groups, non-Hispanic Whites (75%) and Hispanics (20%), reflecting Tucson's population. Information on parental smoking and on wheeze and cough in their children was elicited from parents by using questionnaires at five different surveys. Data were analyzed both cross-sectionally and by using the generalized estimation equation approach, a longitudinal mixed-effects model. The best-fitting model indicated that maternal prenatal but not postnatal smoking was associated with current wheeze (odds ratio = 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.4-3.8) independently of a family history of asthma, socioeconomic factors, and birth weight. This effect was time dependent and significant only below age 3 years; although independent of gender, the association was stronger for girls (odds ratio = 3.6, 95% confidence interval 1.6-8.0). Cough was not associated with parental smoking during the first decade of life. This transitory effect of maternal prenatal smoking on wheezing could be due to changes that affect the early stages of lung development.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Peak flow variability, methacholine responsiveness and atopy as markers for detecting different wheezing phenotypes in childhood.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that wheezing during childhood may be a heterogeneous condition, and that different forms of wheezing may be associated with different risk factors and prognosis. The aim of this study was to determine if measures of airway lability and of atopy could identify distinct wheezing phenotypes during childhood. METHOD: In a cohort of children followed from birth peak flow variability (n = 600) was evaluated and methacholine challenge responsiveness (n = 397) was measured at age 11 in relation to wheezing before the age of three, and at age six and 11 years total serum IgE and skin test reactivity to allergens were determined. RESULTS: Neither positive peak flow variability nor methacholine hyperresponsiveness measured at age 11 were associated with wheezing occurring only during the first three years of life. Both methacholine hyperresponsiveness and positive peak flow variability were associated with wheezing at both ages six and 11 (OR 5.1 (95% CI 2.4 to 10.6) and 2.3 (1.2 to 4.5), respectively). In addition, positive peak flow variability was associated with wheezing up to the age of six but not at age 11 in non-atopic children (OR 2.9 (95% CI 1.0 to 8.8)). Methacholine hyperresponsiveness measured at age 11 was more frequently observed in boys (OR 2.1 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.5)) and was strongly associated with serum IgE levels measured at ages six and 11 (p < 0.001) and with positive skin test reactivity (OR 4.5 (95% CI 2.0 to 10.1)). Peak flow variability was unrelated to sex or markers of atopy (IgE and skin test reactivity). CONCLUSIONS: Methacholine responsiveness and peak flow variability assessed at age 11, together with markers of atopy (IgE and skin test reactivity to allergens) identify three different wheezing phenotypes in childhood: "transient early wheezing" limited to the first three years of life and unrelated to increased airway lability; "non-atopic wheezing" of the toddler and early school years associated with positive peak flow variability but not with methacholine hyperresponsiveness; and "IgE-associated wheeze/asthma" associated with persistent wheezing at any age and with methacholine hyperresponsiveness, peak flow variability, and markers of atopy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

A scoring system for lung function tests in infants.

Measurements of thoracic gas volume (TGV), airway resistance (Raw), and airway conductance (Gaw) were calculated in a group of 42 normal infants using a whole-body plethysmograph. Maximum expiratory flow at functional residual capacity was measured in a separate group of 108 normal infants. Using data obtained from these infants the following regression equations were calculated: Gaw (L.s-1.cmH2O) = -0.0475 + 0.00164 x length (cm) square root of TGV (mL1/2) = -3.22 + 0.263 x length (cm) VmaxFRC (mL.s-1) = -173 + 5.2 x length (cm). The standard errors of prediction are a measure of the scatter of individual results from the normal population about the true regression line. They were used to define limits of the normal ranges for these tests of lung function, and to develop a scoring system. This approach is preferable to expressing results as percent predicted, which gives no indication of how likely a measurement is to be within normal limits.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Relationship of total serum IgE levels in cord and 9-month sera of infants.

To characterize IgE levels at birth and changes in those levels during the first year of life and to identify factors that might influence IgE levels in infancy, we measured IgE levels in 1074 umbilical cord sera and in 697 sera obtained at 9 months of age in a healthy population of infants enrolled at birth into the Children's Respiratory Study in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. Serum IgE levels at birth and 9 months were log normally distributed with geometric means of 0.09 and 3.87 IU/ml, respectively. Cord serum IgE levels were unaffected by maternal smoking. Levels varied according to month of birth with a nadir in September. Cord and 9-month serum IgE levels were higher in boys than in girls, Hispanics compared with Anglos, and infants who developed eczema compared with those who did not, but the mean increases in log IgE from birth to 9 months were not significantly affected by these factors. A significant correlation between IgE levels at cord and 9 months was observed (r = 0.44; P less than 0.0001). Also, mean log IgE levels at 9 months in infants grouped according to cord serum IgE levels maintained the same rank order of mean values as the cord groups. These data indicate that 9-month IgE levels are influenced by cord serum IgE levels and that the main influence of gender, ethnicity and susceptibility to eczema on IgE levels occurs before birth.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1976

Influence of bronchomotor tone on regional ventilation distribution at residual volume.

We studied the topographical distribution of 133Xe boluses inhaled slowly from RV, as well as the distribution of regional volumes at RV (RVr) in seven seated normal subjects before and after aerosolized isoprenaline (ISO) and after aerosolized methacholine hydrochloride (Mech). After Mech the ratio of inhaled 133Xe in the upper lung regions to that in lower lung regions (U/L) decreased from 3.21 +/- .33 (mean +/- 1 SE) to 1.27 +/- 0.12 (P less than 0.001) and returned to 3.89 +/- 0.55 after Iso. Iso alone increased U/L from 3.23 +/- 0.47 to 5.49 +/- 0.85 (P less than 0.025). The height of phase IV in expired 133Xe vs. volume plots correlated with U/L, being greater after Iso and smaller after Mech in each subject. The difference in RVr between upper and lower lung regions decreased after Mech in four out of five subjects from 0.22 TLC to 0.11 TLC. Iso alone did not change the gradient of RVr. The results are consistent with the concept that increased bronchomotor tone widens the range of critical opening and closing pressures with a more patchy and extensive distribution of airway closure.

Adult↗