Flu Shot Kick-Starts Fetal Immune System

(HealthDay News) -- Giving flu vaccinations to a pregnant woman kick-starts the immune system of her fetus, a U.S. study says.

The researchers, led by Rachel Miller of the Columbia University Medical Center, used a newly developed technique called MHC tetramer staining to analyze B- and T-cell immune responses in umbilical cord blood after pregnant women were vaccinated with Fluzone.

Anti-Fluzone antibodies were detected in about 40 percent of the blood cord samples. MHC tetramer staining showed that some of the blood cord samples also made T-cells specifically against the vaccine.

These and other findings in the study establish that B- and T-cell responses to antigens occur in utero after pregnant women have received flu vaccinations, the study authors said. This supports the theory that the human neonatal system can respond to environmental exposures.

The findings have important implications for determining when immune responses to environmental exposures begin, the researchers said.

The study is published in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Influenza vaccinations for pregnant women are considered safe and are recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More information
The March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation has more about vaccinations during pregnancy

Poor Bond With Siblings May Boost Depression Risk

(HealthDay News) -- Men who don't get along with a sibling might be at higher risk for depression, new research shows.

"Among a group of men studied since their late teens, those who said they didn't have a close relationship with even one of their siblings were more likely to be depressed by the time they were 50," said study author Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the Study of Adult Development at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston.

"Having a close relationship with even one of your siblings made you less likely to be depressed," Waldinger added.

His team published the report in the June 1 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
In the study, Waldinger and his colleagues collected data on 229 men from the time they were teens until they were in their 50s. The researchers looked at the men's quality of life and their relationships with their siblings, the quality of parenting they had, and any family history of depression.

The study has lasted for 68 years and is one of the longest studies of adult psychosocial development ever done, Waldinger noted.

His group found that the two things that predicted depression at 50 were poor relationships with brothers and sisters during childhood and a family history of depression.

The researchers aren't clear about what their finding means. "It could be that not being close to a sibling is an early harbinger of later depression," Waldinger said. "Or it could be that being close to a sibling helps you develop you skills dealing with peers."

"There is this connection," Waldinger said. "But we are not sure why."

One expert said the study provides valuable new insight into the origins of mental illness.

"This long-term study allows a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between early life development and long-term risk for common mental health and substance use problems," said Dr. Gregory Simon, a psychiatrist and mental health researcher at the Group Health Cooperative, in Seattle.

While this study suggests a strong relationship between childhood sibling relationships and adult depression, direction of that relationship can't be determined, Simon said.

"It is certainly possible that poor relationships with siblings during childhood have significant and enduring negative effects on mental health," Simon said. "It is also possible, however, that poor relationships with siblings are one of the early signs of depressive illness."

More information
For more information on depression, visit the U.S. National Institute on Mental Health.

Inhaled Corticosteroids Won't Prevent Kids' Asthma

(HealthDay News) -- While inhaled corticosteroid medications are a mainstay of effective asthma treatment, they can't prevent the disease from occurring or recurring in high-risk children, new research found.

Two presentations Wednesday at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference in San Francisco included an additional year of information from previous research. The studies confirmed that youngsters given inhaled corticosteroids may do well while they're taking the medications. But the drugs' beneficial effects wear off soon after they're stopped, and they don't appear to have any long-term effects on the progression of asthmatic disease.

"The good news is that you probably don't have to use steroids to prevent the progression of asthma, but inhaled corticosteroids do work when you need them," said one of the study's authors, Dr. Wayne Morgan, a professor of pediatrics and physiology and chief of pediatric pulmonary medicine at the University of Arizona at Tucson. "Inhaled corticosteroids control, but don't prevent, asthma."

Morgan's presentation, and that of his colleague Dr. Theresa Guilbert, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, revisited a clinical trial called PEAK (Prevention of Early Asthma in Kids). In this trial, 285 children at high risk of developing asthma were randomly selected to receive preventive treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid twice daily for two years, or a placebo. The third year of the study included no treatment. For the fourth year -- the year included in the new presentations -- the children's care was returned solely to their own physicians. Therefore, treatment varied and reflected what's going on in real-world clinical practice.

Morgan's presentation focused on specific physiological measures of lung function. During the study treatment period, these measures indicated that the children in the treatment arm were, in fact, taking the medication.

"At the end of the second observation period, there was no difference between the groups," Morgan said.

The information Guilbert presented focused on who responded most to the medications.
"There was a greater response to asthma medication in non-whites and in males. There was a better response in the somewhat older children and a better response in those with a parental history of asthma," said Morgan, who added that "when you use asthma medications, you can control the disease, but you can't cure it."

Pediatric asthma specialist Dr. Alan Khadavi, of New York University Medical Center, said the new findings won't "change my first-line asthma management. Inhaled corticosteroids may not prevent the development of asthma, but children with asthma still need it to decrease exacerbations."

But, another study presented at the same meeting found that inhaled corticosteroids don't help all children with asthma. Even when parents reported that their children consistently used inhaled corticosteroids, as many as one in five youngsters still didn't achieve good asthma control, this research found. The study included 914 children with mild to moderate asthma and compared those using inhaled corticosteroids on a regular basis to those who weren't prescribed an inhaled corticosteroid.

"It is possible that some children are genetically less responsive to steroids," the study's author, Dr. Gregory Sawicki, of Children's Hospital Boston, said in a prepared statement. He added that it was also possible that the children didn't use their medications as often as their parents reported or that the children who didn't respond to the inhaled corticosteroids may simply have been children with more severe asthma.

While the PEAK study failed to find a way to prevent childhood asthma, and there are no other known ways to prevent the development of the disease, Khadavi pointed out that if you have asthma, you can try to prevent exacerbations of the disease. Since most asthma has allergic triggers, he said, it's important to run an air conditioner or a HEPA air cleaner at times of the year when pollen counts are high. If dust mites trigger your child's symptoms, he recommended "removing carpeting and using dust-mite encasements on mattresses and pillows."

Khadavi also said that if you can't avoid allergens altogether, it's a good idea to give your child an antihistamine to lessen the allergy symptoms.

More information
To learn more about Asthma prevention, visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.