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Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a well‐known marker of type‐2 inflammation. FeNO is elevated in asthma and allergic rhinitis, with IgE sensitization as a major determinant. Objective: We aimed to see whether there was an independent association between upper airway inflammatory disorders (UAID) and FeNO, after adjustment for asthma and sensitization, in a multi‐centre population‐based study. Methods: A total of 741 subjects with current asthma and 4155 non‐asthmatic subjects participating in the second follow‐up of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS III) underwent FeNO measurements. Sensitization status was based on measurement of IgE against airborne allergens; information on asthma, UAID and medication was collected through interview‐led questionnaires. Independent associations between UAID and FeNO were assessed in adjusted multivariate regression models and test for interaction with perennial sensitization and asthma on the relation between UAID and FeNO were made. Results: UAID were associated with higher FeNO after adjusting for perennial sensitization, asthma and other confounders: with 4.4 (0.9–7.9) % higher FeNO in relation to current rhinitis and 4.8 (0.7–9.2) % higher FeNO in relation to rhinoconjunctivitis. A significant interaction with perennial sensitization was found in the relationship between current rhinitis and FeNO (p =.03) and between rhinoconjunctivitis and FeNO (p =.03). After stratification by asthma and perennial sensitization, the association between current rhinitis and FeNO remained in non‐asthmatic subjects with perennial sensitization, with 12.1 (0.2–25.5) % higher FeNO in subjects with current rhinitis than in those without. Conclusions & Clinical Relevance: Current rhinitis and rhinoconjunctivitis was associated with higher FeNO, with an interaction with perennial sensitization. This further highlights the concept of united airway disease, with correlations between symptoms and inflammation in the upper and lower airways and that sensitization needs to be accounted for in the relation between FeNO and rhinitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study investigated whether smoking bans influence passive smoking at work and/or at home in the same subjects. Passive smoking at work and/or at home was investigated in random population samples (European Community Respiratory Health Survey) in 1990‐1995, with follow‐up interviews in 1998‐2003 and 2010‐2014. National smoking bans were classified as partial (restricted to public workplaces) or global (extended to private workplaces). Multivariable analysis was accomplished by three‐level logistic regression models, where level‐1, level‐2, and level‐3 units were, respectively, questionnaire responses, subjects, and centers. Passive smoking at work was reported by 31.9% in 1990‐1995, 17.5% in 1998‐2003, and 2.5% in 2010‐2014. Concurrently, passive smoking at home decreased from 28.9% to 18.2% and 8.8%. When controlling for sex, age, education, smoking status, and ECHRS wave, the odds of passive smoking at work was markedly reduced after global smoking bans (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.25‐0.81), particularly among non‐smokers, while the protective effect of global smoking bans on passive smoking at home was only detected in non‐smokers. Smoking bans both in public and private workplaces were effective in reducing passive smoking at work in Europe. However, given the inefficacy of smoking bans in current smokers' dwellings, better strategies are needed to avoid smoking indoors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanistic research suggests that lifestyle and environmental factors impact respiratory health across generations by epigenetic changes transmitted through male germ cells. Evidence from studies on humans is very limited.We investigated multigeneration causal associations to estimate the causal effects of tobacco smoking on lung function within the paternal line. We analysed data from 383 adult offspring (age 18-47 years; 52.0% female) and their 274 fathers, who had participated in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS)/Respiratory Health in Northern Europe, Spain and Australia (RHINESSA) generation study and had provided valid measures of pre-bronchodilator lung function. Two counterfactual-based, multilevel mediation models were developed with: paternal grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy and fathers' smoking initiation in prepuberty as exposures; fathers' forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) and forced vital capacity (FVC), or FEV 1 /FVC z-scores as potential mediators (proxies of unobserved biological mechanisms that are true mediators); and offspring's FEV 1 and FVC, or FEV 1 /FVC z-scores as outcomes. All effects were summarised as differences (Δ) in expected z-scores related to fathers' and grandmothers' smoking history.Fathers' smoking initiation in prepuberty had a negative direct effect on both offspring's FEV 1 (Δz-score -0.36, 95% CI -0.63- -0.10) and FVC (-0.50, 95% CI -0.80- -0.20) compared with fathers' never smoking. Paternal grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy had a negative direct effect on fathers' FEV 1 /FVC (-0.57, 95% CI -1.09- -0.05) and a negative indirect effect on offspring's FEV 1 /FVC (-0.12, 95% CI -0.21- -0.03) compared with grandmothers' not smoking before fathers' birth nor during fathers' childhood.Fathers' smoking in prepuberty and paternal grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy may cause lower lung function in offspring. Our results support the concept that lifestyle-related exposures during these susceptibility periods influence the health of future generations., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: S. Accordini has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: L. Calciano has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A. Johannessen has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: B. Benediktsdóttir has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R.J. Bertelsen has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: L. Bråbäck has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: S.C. Dharmage has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: B. Forsberg has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: F. Gómez Real has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J.W. Holloway reports grants from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and from the Research Council of Norway, during the conduct of the study. Conflict of interest: M. Holm has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: C. Janson has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: N.O. Jõgi has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R. Jõgi reports grants from the Estonian Research Council (personal research grant number 562), during the conduct of the study; personal fees for consultancy and lectures from GSK, Boehringer and Novartis, personal fees for travel/accommodation/meeting expenses from GSK and Boehringer, outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: A. Malinovschi has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: A. Marcon has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J. Martínez-Moratalla Rovira has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J.L. Sánchez-Ramos has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: V. Schlünssen has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: K. Torén has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D. Jarvis reports grants from the European Union, during the conduct of the study. Conflict of interest: C. Svanes has nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©The authors 2021.)

Background: Mothers' smoking during pregnancy increases asthma risk in their offspring. There is some evidence that grandmothers' smoking may have a similar effect, and biological plausibility that fathers' smoking during adolescence may influence offspring's health through transmittable epigenetic changes in sperm precursor cells. We evaluated the three-generation associations of tobacco smoking with asthma., Methods: Between 2010 and 2013, at the European Community Respiratory Health Survey III clinical interview, 2233 mothers and 1964 fathers from 26 centres reported whether their offspring (aged ≤51 years) had ever had asthma and whether it had coexisted with nasal allergies or not. Mothers and fathers also provided information on their parents' (grandparents) and their own asthma, education and smoking history. Multilevel mediation models within a multicentre three-generation framework were fitted separately within the maternal (4666 offspring) and paternal (4192 offspring) lines., Results: Fathers' smoking before they were 15 [relative risk ratio (RRR) = 1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-2.01] and mothers' smoking during pregnancy (RRR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.01-1.59) were associated with asthma without nasal allergies in their offspring. Grandmothers' smoking during pregnancy was associated with asthma in their daughters [odds ratio (OR) = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.17-2.06] and with asthma with nasal allergies in their grandchildren within the maternal line (RRR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.02-1.55)., Conclusions: Fathers' smoking during early adolescence and grandmothers' and mothers' smoking during pregnancy may independently increase asthma risk in offspring. Thus, risk factors for asthma should be sought in both parents and before conception., Funding: European Union (Horizon 2020, GA-633212).