antibody production

Respiratory allergies and infections are the most common form of illness in the United States and Europe and account for more missed school and work days than any other disease [1].

A substantial body of experimental work has clearly shown that airborne toxicants such as tobacco smoke, ozone and other air pollutants can alter many aspects of the host defense network to either decrease resistance to infection, or exacerbate respiratory allergies and asthma [2].

The mothers of some autistic children may have made antibodies against their fetuses' brain tissue during pregnancy that crossed the placenta and caused changes that led to autism, suggests new research in the Journal of Neuroimmunology.