Allergy protective factors among Turkish migrant school children

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wahn
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Kinder- und Jugendmedizin
• Förderung: Förderung von 2010 bis 2013
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 76940863

Among children from an inner-city district of Berlin we found a markedly reduced prevalence ofallergy if the child’s family was originating from Turkey. The protection from allergy was inversely associated with acculturation of the child’s family. Since children from well acculturated Turkish families did not differ from German children in the prevalence of allergy, protection is likely to be provided by environmental factors. Earlier research indicates that infections transmitted via food or via the oro-fecal route are associated with a reduced risk of allergic disease. The seroprevalence of such infections is related to travel to Turkey. Lack of infections in early childhood may result in delay of immune maturation away from Th2-skewed immunity and may facilitate development of Th2-dependent atopic disease.The aims of this study are:(1) To prospectively describe the incidence of allergy in children with different cultural backgrounds and the prevalence of allergy in their parents;(2) To observe whether protection from allergy persists among Turkish migrants up to adolescence adulthood;(3) To investigate whether a more frequent acquisition of food-borne and oro-fecal infections or non-infectious dietary factors can explain allergy protection among migrant families;(4) To test the hypothesis that the innate and adaptive immune system is, in migrant populations, more activated than in Germans controls;A population of adolescents from domestic and migrant families, already examined at preschool age, will be re-examined for allergy, diet, travel habits, serological evidence of food-borne and orofecal infections, activation state of the innate and adaptive immune system. Both parents will be also examined with the same protocol.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Beteiligte Person: Dr. Christoph Grüber