Department of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, Philipps-University of Marburg, Marburg 35043, Germany.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2011 Jun;68(11):1851-62. doi: 10.1007/s00018-011-0644-3. Epub 2011 Mar 3.
Allergy and asthma are chronic inflammatory diseases which result from complex gene-environment interactions. Recent evidence indicates the importance of prenatal and postnatal developmental processes in terms of maturation of balanced immune responses. According to the current view, gene-environment interactions during a restricted time frame are responsible for programming of the immune system in favor of allergic immune mechanisms later in life. The interaction between genes and environment is complex and only partially understood; however, heritable epigenetic modifications including chemical additions in and alternative packaging of the DNA have been shown to play a crucial role in this context. Novel data indicate that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the development of T-helper cell function. Environmental factors, including diesel exhaust particles (DEP), vitamins and tobacco smoke, operate through such mechanisms. Furthermore, the role of environmental microbes provides another and maybe even more important group of exogenous exposures which operates in this critical time frame.
过敏和哮喘是慢性炎症性疾病，由复杂的基因-环境相互作用引起。最近的证据表明，产前和产后发育过程对于平衡免疫反应的成熟非常重要。根据目前的观点，在有限的时间内，基因-环境的相互作用负责编程免疫系统，使其在以后的生活中偏向于过敏免疫机制。基因和环境之间的相互作用是复杂的，并且只部分得到了理解；然而，已经表明可遗传的表观遗传修饰，包括 DNA 的化学添加和替代包装，在这方面起着关键作用。新的数据表明，表观遗传机制有助于辅助性 T 细胞功能的发展。环境因素，包括柴油机排气颗粒（DEP）、维生素和烟草烟雾，通过这些机制发挥作用。此外，环境微生物的作用提供了另一个甚至可能更重要的外源性暴露群体，它们在这个关键时期发挥作用。
