Diverse, mature gut bacteria can reduce asthma risk in childhood

Babies and young children with a diverse and more mature community of bacteria present in their gut are less likely to develop wheezing or asthma related to allergies finds studyBacteria known as microbiota develop in the human body during early years of life were associated with a lower chance of developing food allergies and asthma in childhoodMicrobiota which babies already have in their guts from their mothers when they are born helps the body in synthesising vitamins and boosting the immune systemldquoOur studies showed that a more mature infant gut microbiota at one year of age was associated with a lower chance of developing food allergies and asthma in childhood This appeared to be driven by the overall composition of the gut microbiota rather than specific bacteria We then hypothesised that advanced maturation of the infant gut microbiota in early life is associated with decreased risk of allergyrelated wheeze in later childhoodrdquo said Dr Yuan Gao a research fellow at Deakin University Geelong in AustraliaFor the study the team randomly selected 323 children and looked at the bacteria present in their faecal samples one month after birth six months and one yearAt the oneyear and fouryear postnatal reviews the investigators asked the parents to report on whether their children had developed allergyrelated wheeze or asthma in the previous 12 monthsThe researchers used a DNA sequencing technique to identify and characterise the gut microbiota They also calculated lsquomicrobiotabyage zscorersquo MAZs which is a mathematical estimate of the maturity of the childrenrsquos gut microbiota by doing DNA sequencing of 323 children randomlyldquoIf MAZ increased within a certain range known as standard deviation it halved the risk of allergyrelated wheeze at both these ages In other words the more mature the gut microbiota the less likely were the children to have allergyrelated wheeze We did not find a similar association with MAZ scores at one or six monthsrdquo said Dr GaoldquoWe hope that by understanding how the gut microbiota improves the immune system new ways of preventing allergyrelated disease such as asthma can be developedrdquo she addedMeanwhile researchers are also planning to recruit 2000 children from Australia and New Zealand to a new clinical trial to see whether giving young children a mixture of dead bacteria taken orally can protect them from wheezing illnesses or asthma by boosting a healthy immune response to viral infectionsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever