Low gut microbial diversity in the intestines of infants can increase the risk for asthma development. These are the findings of the age 7 follow-up in a multi-year study led by researchers at Link?ping University in Sweden.
In 2011 the results of a comprehensive survey of the intestinal microbiota of allergic and healthy children were published. In the samples from the infancy period, the degree of variation and diversity of the bacteria strains was significantly lower among those who had developed allergic eczema when they were two years old.
A follow-up study was conducted when the 47 participating infants reached their seventh birthday. By then eight of them - 17% - were suffering from chronic asthma. 28% had hay fever, 26% still had eczema, and 34% reacted to the allergens in a skin prick test. But it was only the asthma cases that could be connected to low intestinal microbial diversity at the age of one week and one month, according to the results now being published in the scientific journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy.
It might seem a bit of a stretch to think the contents of the intestines could influence what happens in the airways. The results of this study, however, give further credence to this connection, which has previously been demonstrated in animal studies.
"A high diversity of gut microbiota during the first months of life seems to be important for the maturation of the immune system," says Thomas Abrahamsson, paediatrician and researcher at Link?ping University, and principal author of the article.
