Can perturbations in microbial maturation cause asthma?

Abstract

Microbial colonisation in children is believed to initiate at birth, and from this point onwards, complex microbial populations evolve in niche-specific patterns throughout the body. In all niches, both transient and more persistent colonisers emerge in a temporal fashion. Such temporal changes are especially observed in the first year of life, when the composition of the microbiota is unstable, all environmental exposures are novel, and dietary patterns change considerably. 1 Subramanian S Blanton LV Frese SA Charbonneau M Mills DA Gordon JI Cultivating healthy growth and nutrition through the gut microbiota. Cell. 2015; 161: 36-48 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (91) Google Scholar Although environmental factors in childhood act as microbial reservoirs and seeding sources for the developing microbiome, the gut microbiome in early life is further shaped by the nutritional components of the diet, 2 Bokulich NA Chung J Battaglia T et al. Antibiotics, birth mode, and diet shape microbiome maturation during early life. Sci Transl Med. 2016; 8343ra82 Crossref PubMed Scopus (529) Google Scholar with different species thriving on specific dietary compounds and thereby being selected for. The microbiome in early life is dominated by bacterial species that can digest oligosaccharides and lipids from breast milk; the subsequent introduction of solid foods allows for new microbes to emerge and colonise. As such, the microbial composition of the gut is dynamic and develops rapidly during the first year of life, and this process of development characterises the normal maturation of the microbiome. 1 Subramanian S Blanton LV Frese SA Charbonneau M Mills DA Gordon JI Cultivating healthy growth and nutrition through the gut microbiota. Cell. 2015; 161: 36-48 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (91) Google Scholar , 3 Stokholm J Blaser MJ Thorsen J et al. Maturation of the gut microbiome and risk of asthma in childhood. Nat Commun. 2018; 9: 141 Crossref PubMed Scopus (171) Google Scholar Decreasing antibiotic use, the gut microbiota, and asthma incidence in children: evidence from population-based and prospective cohort studiesOur findings suggest that the reduction in the incidence of paediatric asthma observed in recent years might be an unexpected benefit of prudent antibiotic use during infancy, acting via preservation of the gut microbial community. Full-Text PDF