TY - JOUR
T1 - The all age asthma cohort (ALLIANCE) - from early beginnings to chronic disease: A longitudinal cohort study
AU - Fuchs, Oliver
AU - Bahmer, Thomas
AU - Weckmann, Markus
AU - Dittrich, Anna Maria
AU - Schaub, Bianca
AU - Rösler, Barbara
AU - Happle, Christine
AU - Brinkmann, Folke
AU - Ricklefs, Isabell
AU - König, Inke R.
AU - Watz, Henrik
AU - Rabe, Klaus F.
AU - Kopp, Matthias V.
AU - Hansen, Gesine
AU - von Mutius, Erika
N1 - Funding Information:
The ALLIANCE infrastructure is provided by the participating sites of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL) and associated study centres, i.e. university hospitals, academic and private research institutions in Luebeck, Grosshansdorf, Borstel, Hannover, Munich, Marburg and Cologne. Direct costs of the ALLIANCE Cohort are being paid by project grants (first funding period 2011–2015 and second funding period 2016–2020) from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) as part of the DZL funding.
Funding Information:
We are indebted to our study participants and their families for participating in the study and the staff of the participating hospitals and primary care practices and our cooperation partners within the DZL for the support and recruitment. We also thank Dr. Lena Birzele, Pia Eichmueller; the study nurses Johanna Kurz, Nicola Korherr, Nicole Rahmanian, Regine Wieland, Petra Hundack-Winter, Susann Prange, Corinna Derworth, Johanna Döhling, Romina Pritzkow, Birgit Kullmann, Eva Wittmer, Nadine Weissheimer, and El-vira Ehlers-Jeske; the data managers Elisabeth Schmausser-Hechfellner and Edith Riess; the lung function technicians Elvira Kolling, Andrea Suender, Annegret Telsemeyer, Dunja Tennhardt, Christiane Staabs, Cornelia Stolpe, Ute Buch, Isabella Jürgens, and Ines Krömer as well as the lab technicians Isolde Schleich, Karin Kempa, Tatjana Netz, Jana Bergmann, Annika Dreier, and Christin Albrecht for their invaluable assistance and support. The BioMaterial-Bank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research. The Bio-MaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N) which is supported by a grant from the German Ministry for Education and Research (01EY1103). Members of the ALLIANCE Study Group: Barbara Roeslera, MD; Nils Welcheringa, MD; Naschla Kohistani-Greifa, MD; Katja Landgraf-Raufa, PhD; Kristina Laubhahna, MSc; Bianca Schauba, MD; Mar-kus Egea, MD; Claudia Liebl, MSca; Erika von Mutiusa,c, MD MSc; Johanna Kur-za,b, MSc; Oliver Fuchsa,b,d, MD PhD; Isabell Ricklefsd, MD; Gesa Diekmannd, MD; Laila Sultanseid, MD; Markus Weckmannd, PhD; Gyde Nissend, Matthias V Koppd, MD; MD; Inke R. Könige, PhD; Dominik Thielee, MSc; Folke Brink-mannf,g, MD; Anna-Maria Dittrichf, MD, Christine Happlef, MD; Aydin Malikf, MD; Nicolaus Schwerkf, MD; Christian Dopferf, MD; Mareike Pricef, MD; Ruth Grychtolf, MD; Gesine Hansenf, MD; Michael Zemlinh,i, MD; Matthias Müllerj, MD; Ernst Rietschelj, MD; Silke van Koningsbruggen-Rietschelj, MD; Thomas Bahmerk, MD; Anne-Marie Kirstenl, MD; Frauke Pedersenl, PhD; Henrik Watzk, MD; Benjamin Waschkik, MD; Klaus F. Rabek, MD PhD; Christian Herzmannm, MD; Annika Opitz, MDm; Karoline I. Gaedem, PhD; Peter Zabelm, MD; a Department of Paediatric Allergology, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany, and Comprehensive Pneumology Center, Munich (CPC-M), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). b Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Inselspital, University Children’s Hospital of Bern, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. c Institut für Asthma-und Allergieprävention (IAP), Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Munich, Germany. d University Children’s Hospital, Luebeck, Germany, and Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). e Institute for Medical Biometry and Statistics, University Luebeck, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Luebeck, Germany, and Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). f Department of Paediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, and Biomedical Research in Endstage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). g Department of Paediatric Pneumology, University Children’s Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. h University Children’s Hospital Marburg, University of Marburg, Germany, and University of Giessen Marburg Lung Centre (UGMLC); Member of the German Center for Lung Research. i Department of General Pediatrics and Neonatology, Saarland University Medical School, Homburg, Germany. j Department of Paediatric Allergology and Pneumology, University Children’s Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Germany. k LungenClinic Grosshansdorf GmbH, Grosshansdorf, Germany, and Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). l Pulmonary Research Institute at LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Grosshansdorf, Germany, and Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL). m Research Center Borstel – Medical Clinic, Borstel, Germany, and Airway Research Center North (ARCN), Germany; Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL).
Funding Information:
The ALLIANCE infrastructure is provided by the participating sites of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL) and associated study centres, i.e. university hospitals, academic and private research institutions in Luebeck, Grosshansdorf, Borstel, Hannover, Munich, Marburg and Cologne. Direct costs of the ALLIANCE Cohort are being paid by project grants (first funding period 2011–2015 and second funding period 2016–2020) from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesminister-ium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) as part of the DZL funding. All studies were approved by the local ethics committees and are registered at clinicaltrials.gov (paediatric arm: NCT02496468; adult arm: NCT02419274).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/8/20
Y1 - 2018/8/20
N2 - Background: Asthma and wheezing disorders in childhood and adulthood are clinically heterogeneous regarding disease presentation, natural course, and response to treatment. Deciphering common disease mechanisms in distinct subgroups requires harmonized molecular (endo-) phenotyping of both children and adult patients with asthma in a prospective, longitudinal setting. Methods: The ALL Age Asthma Cohort (ALLIANCE) of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) is a prospective, multi-center, observational cohort study with seven recruiting sites across Germany. Data are derived from four sources: (a) patient history from medical records, (b) standardized questionnaires and structured interviews, (c) telephone interviews, and (d) objective measurements. Objective measurements include amongst others lung function and quantitative assessment of airway inflammation and exhaled breath, peripheral blood, skin, nasal, pharyngeal, and nasopharyngeal swabs, nasal secretions, primary nasal epithelial cells, and induced sputum. In cases, objective measurements and biomaterial collection are performed regularly, while control subjects are only examined once at baseline. Discussion: The standardized and detailed collection of epidemiological and physiological data, and the molecular deep phenotyping of a comprehensive range of biomaterials in a considerable number of study participants across all ages are the outstanding characteristics of this multi-center cohort. Despite extensive biomaterial sampling, and a recruitment strategy that also includes pre-school children as young as 6 months, attrition is low. In children 83.9%, and in adults 90.5% attended the 12-month follow-up. The earliest time-point to include cases, however, is disease manifestation. Therefore, unraveling mechanisms that drive disease onset is limited, as this question can only be answered in a population-based birth cohort. Nonetheless, ALLIANCE offers a unique, integrative and inter-disciplinary framework with a comprehensive molecular approach in a prospective and identical fashion across ages in order to identify biomarkers and predictors for distinct childhood wheeze and asthma trajectories as well as their further course during adulthood. Ultimately, this approach aims to translate its most significant findings into clinical practice, and to improve asthma transition from adolescence to adulthood. Trial registration:NCT02496468for pediatric arm, NCT02419274for adult arm.
AB - Background: Asthma and wheezing disorders in childhood and adulthood are clinically heterogeneous regarding disease presentation, natural course, and response to treatment. Deciphering common disease mechanisms in distinct subgroups requires harmonized molecular (endo-) phenotyping of both children and adult patients with asthma in a prospective, longitudinal setting. Methods: The ALL Age Asthma Cohort (ALLIANCE) of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) is a prospective, multi-center, observational cohort study with seven recruiting sites across Germany. Data are derived from four sources: (a) patient history from medical records, (b) standardized questionnaires and structured interviews, (c) telephone interviews, and (d) objective measurements. Objective measurements include amongst others lung function and quantitative assessment of airway inflammation and exhaled breath, peripheral blood, skin, nasal, pharyngeal, and nasopharyngeal swabs, nasal secretions, primary nasal epithelial cells, and induced sputum. In cases, objective measurements and biomaterial collection are performed regularly, while control subjects are only examined once at baseline. Discussion: The standardized and detailed collection of epidemiological and physiological data, and the molecular deep phenotyping of a comprehensive range of biomaterials in a considerable number of study participants across all ages are the outstanding characteristics of this multi-center cohort. Despite extensive biomaterial sampling, and a recruitment strategy that also includes pre-school children as young as 6 months, attrition is low. In children 83.9%, and in adults 90.5% attended the 12-month follow-up. The earliest time-point to include cases, however, is disease manifestation. Therefore, unraveling mechanisms that drive disease onset is limited, as this question can only be answered in a population-based birth cohort. Nonetheless, ALLIANCE offers a unique, integrative and inter-disciplinary framework with a comprehensive molecular approach in a prospective and identical fashion across ages in order to identify biomarkers and predictors for distinct childhood wheeze and asthma trajectories as well as their further course during adulthood. Ultimately, this approach aims to translate its most significant findings into clinical practice, and to improve asthma transition from adolescence to adulthood. Trial registration:NCT02496468for pediatric arm, NCT02419274for adult arm.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052633638&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12890-018-0705-6
DO - 10.1186/s12890-018-0705-6
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 30126401
AN - SCOPUS:85052633638
SN - 1471-2466
VL - 18
JO - BMC Pulmonary Medicine
JF - BMC Pulmonary Medicine
IS - 1
M1 - 140
ER -
