Maturation of the gut microbiome and risk of asthma in childhood

Jakob Stokholm, Martin J. Blaser, Jonathan Thorsen, Morten Arendt Rasmussen, Johannes Eichler Waage, Rebecca K. Vinding, Ann-Marie Malby Schoos, Asja Kunøe, Nadia R. Fink, Bo L. Chawes, Klaus Bønnelykke, Asker Daniel Brejnrod, Martin Steen Mortensen, Waleed Abu Al-Soud, Søren Johannes Sørensen, Hans Bisgaard

147 Citations (Scopus)
210 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The composition of the human gut microbiome matures within the first years of life. It has been hypothesized that microbial compositions in this period can cause immune dysregulations and potentially cause asthma. Here we show, by associating gut microbial composition from 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing during the first year of life with subsequent risk of asthma in 690 participants, that 1-year-old children with an immature microbial composition have an increased risk of asthma at age 5 years. This association is only apparent among children born to asthmatic mothers, suggesting that lacking microbial stimulation during the first year of life can trigger their inherited asthma risk. Conversely, adequate maturation of the gut microbiome in this period may protect these pre-disposed children.

Original languageEnglish
Article number141
JournalNature Communications
Volume9
Number of pages10
ISSN2041-1723
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018

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