T HE J OURNAL OF
Allergy Clinical Immunology AND
VOLUME 121 NUMBER 5 d
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ALLERGY, ASTHMA
& IMMUNOLOGY
News beyond our pages
1071
Marc E. Rothenberg, MD, PhD, and Harold S. Nelson, MD, Editors
Reviews and feature articles Clinical reviews in allergy and immunology Asthma and obesity: Common early-life influences in the inception of disease
1075
Augusto A. Litonjua, MD, MPH, and Diane R. Gold, MD, MPH, Boston, Mass
Continued on page 6A This month’s theme: Obesity About the cover The theme of this issue is the connection between obesity and asthma. The cover image shows a histology of normal abdominal fat. Fat cells (adipocytes) produce proinflammatory cytokines (eg, IL-6, TNF-a) and the satiety hormone, leptin, which may contribute to the relationship between obesity and asthma. This relationship is explored in several of this month’s review articles. In our Clinical Reviews series, Augusto A. Litonjua and Diane R. Gold (p 1075) examine common earlylife factors that might contribute to the development of both obesity and asthma. As part of our Mechanisms of Allergic Diseases series, Stephanie A. Shore (p 1087) makes use of animal-model studies to highlight mechanisms that might help to explain the obesityasthma relationship. Finally, in a Current Perspectives article, Reena Mehra and Susan Redline (p 1096) consider the mechanistic associations among obesity, sleep apnea, and systemic inflammation, with an eye to future research directions. These and other theme-related articles are indicated by red starbursts next to their titles in the Table of Contents. Photo by John J. Godleski, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The Editors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Diane R. Gold to the planning and coordinating of this theme issue.
Ó 2008 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (ISSN: 0091-6749) is published monthly by Elsevier Inc., 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710. Business Office: 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1800, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2899. Editorial Office: 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St Louis, MO 63146-3318. Customer Service Office: 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Elsevier Periodicals Customer Service, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800.
J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL
May 2008 5A