Allergic diseases and air pollution

Abstract
	Current Review  Open Access
	Asia Pac Allergy. 2013 Jul;3(3):145-154. English. Published online 2013 July 30.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5415/apallergy.2013.3.3.145  Copyright © 2013. Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology. Allergic diseases and air pollution Suh-Young Lee,1,2 Yoon-Seok Chang,1,2,3 and Sang-Heon Cho1,2,4 1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea. 2Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul 110-799, Korea. 3Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 463-707, Korea. 4Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul 135-984, Korea. Correspondence: Sang-Heon Cho. Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehang-no, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea. Tel: +82-2-2072-2971, Fax: +82-2-742-3291, Email: shcho@snu.ac.kr  Received June 12, 2013; Accepted July 15, 2013. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.  This article has been cited by 1 article in   Go to: Abstract The prevalence of allergic diseases has been increasing rapidly, especially in developing countries. Various adverse health outcomes such as allergic disease can be attributed to rapidly increasing air pollution levels. Rapid urbanization and increased energy consumption worldwide have exposed the human body to not only increased quantities of ambient air pollution, but also a greater variety of pollutants. Many studies clearly demonstrate that air pollutants potently trigger asthma exacerbation. Evidence that transportation-related pollutants contribute to the development of allergies is also emerging. Moreover, exposure to particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide contributes to the increased susceptibility to respiratory infections. This article focuses on the current understanding of the detrimental effects of air pollutants on allergic disease including exacerbation to the development of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema as well as epigenetic regulation. Keywords: Allergy, Air pollution, Tobacco smoke pollution, Environmental exposure. Formats: Abstract Article PubReader PDF Figures + Tables References Cited by:  article (1) Export: Download Citation E-mail Twitter Facebook