L T Birzele1, M Depner1, M J Ege1,2, M Engel3,4, S Kublik4, C Bernau5, G J Loss1,6, J Genuneit7, E Horak8, M Schloter4, C Braun-Fahrländer9,10, H Danielewicz11, D Heederik12, E von Mutius1,2, A Legatzki1. 1. Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. 2. Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany. 3. Research Unit Scientific Computing, Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany. 4. Research Unit for Environmental Genomics, Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany. 5. Leibniz Supercomputing Center of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Garching, Germany. 6. Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. 7. Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. 8. Division of Cardiology and Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. 9. Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. 10. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. 11. Department of Pediatrics, Allergology and Cardiology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland. 12. Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: High microbial diversity in the environment has been associated with lower asthma risk, particularly in children exposed to farming. It remains unclear whether this effect operates through an altered microbiome of the mucosal surfaces of the airways. METHODS: DNA from mattress dust and nasal samples of 86 school age children was analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene fragments. Based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs), bacterial diversity and composition were related to farm exposure and asthma status. RESULTS: Farm exposure was positively associated with bacterial diversity in mattress dust samples as determined by richness (P = 8.1 × 10-6 ) and Shannon index (P = 1.3 × 10-5 ). Despite considerable agreement of richness between mattress and nasal samples, the association of richness with farming in nasal samples was restricted to a high gradient of farm exposure, that is, exposure to cows and straw vs no exposure at all. In mattress dust, the genera Clostridium, Facklamia, an unclassified genus within the family of Ruminococcaceae, and six OTUs were positively associated with farming. Asthma was inversely associated with richness [aOR = 0.48 (0.22-1.02)] and Shannon index [aOR = 0.41 (0.21-0.83)] in mattress dust and to a lower extent in nasal samples [richness aOR 0.63 = (0.38-1.06), Shannon index aOR = 0.66 (0.39-1.12)]. CONCLUSION: The stronger inverse association of asthma with bacterial diversity in mattress dust as compared to nasal samples suggests microbial involvement beyond mere colonization of the upper airways. Whether inhalation of metabolites of environmental bacteria contributes to this phenomenon should be the focus of future research.
BACKGROUND: High microbial diversity in the environment has been associated with lower asthma risk, particularly in children exposed to farming. It remains unclear whether this effect operates through an altered microbiome of the mucosal surfaces of the airways. METHODS: DNA from mattress dust and nasal samples of 86 school age children was analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene fragments. Based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs), bacterial diversity and composition were related to farm exposure and asthma status. RESULTS: Farm exposure was positively associated with bacterial diversity in mattress dust samples as determined by richness (P = 8.1 × 10-6 ) and Shannon index (P = 1.3 × 10-5 ). Despite considerable agreement of richness between mattress and nasal samples, the association of richness with farming in nasal samples was restricted to a high gradient of farm exposure, that is, exposure to cows and straw vs no exposure at all. In mattress dust, the genera Clostridium, Facklamia, an unclassified genus within the family of Ruminococcaceae, and six OTUs were positively associated with farming. Asthma was inversely associated with richness [aOR = 0.48 (0.22-1.02)] and Shannon index [aOR = 0.41 (0.21-0.83)] in mattress dust and to a lower extent in nasal samples [richness aOR 0.63 = (0.38-1.06), Shannon index aOR = 0.66 (0.39-1.12)]. CONCLUSION: The stronger inverse association of asthma with bacterial diversity in mattress dust as compared to nasal samples suggests microbial involvement beyond mere colonization of the upper airways. Whether inhalation of metabolites of environmental bacteria contributes to this phenomenon should be the focus of future research.
Authors: Erika von Mutius; Juha Pekkanen; Pirkka V Kirjavainen; Anne M Karvonen; Rachel I Adams; Martin Täubel; Marjut Roponen; Pauli Tuoresmäki; Georg Loss; Balamuralikrishna Jayaprakash; Martin Depner; Markus Johannes Ege; Harald Renz; Petra Ina Pfefferle; Bianca Schaub; Roger Lauener; Anne Hyvärinen; Rob Knight; Dick J J Heederik Journal: Nat Med Date: 2019-06-17 Impact factor: 53.440
Authors: Peggy S Lai; Raivo Kolde; Eric A Franzosa; Jonathan M Gaffin; Sachin N Baxi; William J Sheehan; Diane R Gold; Dirk Gevers; Ramnik J Xavier; Wanda Phipatanakul Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Date: 2018-03-05 Impact factor: 10.793
Authors: Martin Depner; Diana Hazard Taft; Pirkka V Kirjavainen; Karen M Kalanetra; Anne M Karvonen; Stefanie Peschel; Elisabeth Schmausser-Hechfellner; Caroline Roduit; Remo Frei; Roger Lauener; Amandine Divaret-Chauveau; Jean-Charles Dalphin; Josef Riedler; Marjut Roponen; Michael Kabesch; Harald Renz; Juha Pekkanen; Freda M Farquharson; Petra Louis; David A Mills; Erika von Mutius; Markus J Ege Journal: Nat Med Date: 2020-11-02 Impact factor: 53.440