BILD cohort - Air Pollution and Effects on Lung Functional Development and Respiratory Morbidity in At-Risk Infants

Studies in countries with high levels of air pollution have shown that exposure to certain air pollutants can lead to impaired lung growth and the development of asthma.
Even low levels of air pollution during pregnancy can have an impact on an infant's lung function shortly after birth. We want to investigate whether, in this early phase of lung development shortly before and after birth, the lung tissue is damaged by environmental stimuli or the immune system is affected.

Although it is not yet clear how this happens, we believe that several factors contribute. For example, we are studying the role of hereditary predisposition, the birth process, nutrition, early infections and the interaction of genes and environmental pollutants. Each of these factors has a relatively small effect, but together they can potentially determine whether a child will develop lung disease or asthma. In this current phase of our study, we are particularly interested in how the above factors affect lung development in healthy term babies, preterm babies as well as term babies born to mothers with asthma. This could be valuable additional information to understand how environmental influences affect lung growth and development.

Decrue F, Gorlanova O, Salem Y, Vienneau D, de Hoogh K, Gisler A, Usemann J, Korten I, Nahum U, Sinues P, Schulzke S, Fuchs O, Latzin P, Röösli M, Frey U, BILD Study Group. Increased impact of air pollution on lung function in preterm versus term infants: the BILD study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2022;205(1):99-107. DOI: 10.1164/rccm.202102-0272OC

Gorlanova O, Appenzeller R, Mahmoud Y.S, Ramsey K.A, Usemann J, Decrue F, Kuehni C.E, Röösli M, Latzin P, Fuchs O, Soti A, Frey U, BILD Study Group. Effect of breastfeeding duration on lung function, respiratory symptoms and allergic diseases in school-age children. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2020;55(6):1448-1455. DOI: 10.1002/ppul.24733

Usemann J, Decrue F, Korten I, Proietti D, Gorlanova O, Vienneau D, Fuchs O, Latzin P, Röösli M, Frey U, BILD study group. Exposure to moderate air pollution and associations with lung function at school-age: a birth cohort study. Environ Int. 2019;126:682-689. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.12.019