Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects around 600,000 children in Canada. Asthma has both a genetic component and an environmental component (pollution, cigarettes). One environmental component linked with an increased with for asthma is exposure to diabetes during pregnancy. Diabetes rates are increasing worldwide and so understanding how diabetes increases risk for asthma in children is important in our ability to prevent further increases in the number of children diagnosed with asthma. Using a novel animal model, we were able to show that pups born to mothers fed a high fat diet and who had gestational diabetes gave birth to pups who were more sensitive to the effects of an allergen known as house dust mite. In particular, female mice from mothers with diabetes had more inflammation in the airways of their lungs and male mice from diabetic mothers had more airway narrowing. Understanding the mechanisms behind the association between diabetes and asthma will allow us to develop health policy's that protect children and decrease the burden of asthma in Canada.