Grant: Project Grant

Eczema precedes food allergies, asthma, and allergic rhinitis in what is known as the atopic march. An infant with eczema has a weakened skin barrier, allowing allergens to enter the body and cause sensitization, meaning that the immune system recognizes harmless substances as hazardous, leading to a higher risk of developing other allergies. Although simple treatments for preventing these allergic diseases are available, their prevalence is still increasing. This inspired the development of a predictive tool that will help identify newborns at higher risk and motivate parents to adopt those treatments. Efforts have been made to determine genes that increase the risk of developing these diseases; however, knowledge of epigenetic heritability, changes caused by the environment on DNA that do not modify its sequence, is lacking. Epigenetic marks change throughout life, but can also be transmitted to the next generation. The aims of this project are 1) to identify epigenetic marks associated with diseases of the atopic march in the Canadian population; 2) to select marks that contribute to the epigenetic heritability of the atopic march; and 3) to validate the best hits by evaluating their biological impact using measures of gene activity and a replication in a European cohort. Ultimately, validated inherited marks will be added to a genetic predictive tool presently in development for the identification of at-risk newborns. This project will be possible thanks to the expertise of a geneticist and four biostatisticians.