Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jun;25(2):104-113.
doi: 10.1089/ped.2011.0116.

The Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository: A Novel Framework for Childhood Asthma and Allergy Research

Melinda Butsch Kovacic, Jocelyn M Biagini Myers, Mark Lindsey, Tia Patterson, Sharon Sauter, Mark B Ericksen, Patrick Ryan, Amal Assa'ad, Michelle Lierl, Thomas Fischer, Carolyn Kercsmar, Karen McDowell, Anne W Lucky, Anita P Sheth, Andrew D Hershey, Richard M Ruddy, Marc E Rothenberg, Gurjit K Khurana Hershey

The Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository: A Novel Framework for Childhood Asthma and Allergy Research

Melinda Butsch Kovacic et al. Pediatr Allergy Immunol Pulmonol. 2012 Jun.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Allergic disorders, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, and food allergy, are a major global health burden. The study and management of allergic disorders is complicated by the considerable heterogeneity in both the presentation and natural history of these disorders. Biorepositories serve as an excellent source of data and biospecimens for delineating subphenotypes of allergic disorders, but such resources are lacking. METHODS: In order to define subphenotypes of allergic disease accurately, we established an infrastructure to link and efficiently utilize clinical and epidemiologic data with biospecimens into a single biorepository called the Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository (GCPCR). Children with allergic disorders as well as healthy controls are followed longitudinally at hospital clinic, emergency department, and inpatient visits. Subjects' asthma, allergy, and skin symptoms; past medical, family, social, diet, and environmental histories; physical activity; medication adherence; perceived quality of life; and demographics are ascertained. DNA is collected from all participants, and other biospecimens such as blood, hair, and nasal epithelial cells are collected on a subset. RESULTS: To date, the GCPCR has 6,317 predominantly Caucasian and African American participants, and 93% have banked DNA. This large sample size supports adequately powered genetic, epidemiologic, environmental, and health disparities studies of childhood allergic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The GCPCR is a unique biorepository that is continuously evaluated and refined to achieve and maintain rigorous clinical phenotype and biological data. Development of similar disease-specific repositories using common data elements is necessary to enable studies across multiple populations of comprehensively phenotyped patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Participant, data, and biological sample flow. CCHMC, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; GCPCR, Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository; IRB, Institutional Review Board.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Estimated traffic related air pollution at residential locations of GCPCR participants by disease status. Elemental analysis of ambient samples of PM2.5 was used to estimate levels of elemental carbon attributable to traffic (ECAT; a marker of traffic related air pollution) at 24 monitoring sites throughout the seven county Cincinnati Metropolitan area. Geographic Information System software was used to obtain longitude and latitude coordinates from each repository participant's home address. A land-use regression model was used to derive estimates of ECAT exposure from these coordinates.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Residential locations of GCPCR participants stratified by race and disease status. Geographic Information System software was used to obtain longitude and latitude coordinates from each repository participant's home address.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Sly RM. Changing prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 1999;82:233–248. quiz 48–52. - PubMed
    1. Martinez FD. Wright AL. Taussig LM. Holberg CJ. Halonen M. Morgan WJ. Asthma and wheezing in the first six years of life. The Group Health Medical Associates. N Engl J Med. 1995;332:133–138. - PubMed
    1. Akinbami L. The state of childhood asthma, United States, 1980–2005. Adv Data. 2006:1–24. - PubMed
    1. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) Bethesda (MD): National Heart L, and Blood Institute; 2007. pp. 213–276. Expert panel report 3: guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma.
    1. ISAAC. Worldwide variation in prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and atopic eczema: ISAAC. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Steering Committee. Lancet. 1998;351:1225–1232. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources