Abstract
Psychosocial stress (stress) is one of the environmental factors associated with asthma exacerbation. However, little is known about the mechanism by which how stress influences asthma phenotypes. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, histone remodeling, and microRNAs, have been recently reported as new mechanisms of environmental factors-induced asthma. For instance, we have reported that dietary factors can modify the heritable risk of asthma during a vulnerable period of fetal development through epigenetic mechanisms in mice. Chen et al have reported that epigenetic and genetic variants in ADCYAP1R1, which is linked to post-traumatic stress disorder in adults and anxiety in children, are associated with asthma in Puerto Rican children. In this paper, we review current topics of epigenetic regulations in terms of asthma and psychosocial stress, and discuss the possible link between stress and asthma pathogenesis.
