Collaborative Biostatistical Research

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

There is a growing literature linking gut microbiome to asthma. In the general population, there is a greater microbial diversity among people with no asthma than those with asthma, with a greater abundance of taxa such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Sutterella wadsworthensis and Bacteroides stercoris, and the SCFA, such as the acetic and the butyric acids. Conversely, there is a greater abundance of pro-inflammatory bacteria such as Clostridium bolteae, Clostridium ramosum, Clostridium spiroforme and Eggerthella lenta among people with asthma. A reduction in Lachnospira, Veillonella, Faecalibacterium, and Rothia are known to be associated with increased risk of asthma in children. Gut microbiota are also known to be involved in the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE)and are associated with lung functions such as forced expiratory volume (FEV). During normal pregnancy, women not only undergo major physiological and hormonal changes, but they also experience significant changes in their gut and vaginal microbiome. These changes are necessary for maternal metabolism, immune response, and hormonal changes to support pregnancy and to provide healthy flora for babies at birth. Maternal gut microbiome composition and bacterial metabolites together with maternal functional Toll-like Receptor (TLR) signaling during pregnancy is known to have a major impact on infant health, in particular food allergies and asthma. It was demonstrated in the literature that high levels of acetic acid during pregnancy is protective for infant from wheezing and coughing. Among the acetate producing bacteria, abundance of Prevotella Copri (P. Copri) during pregnancy is demonstrated in the literature to be associated with protection against allergies and asthma in the offspring. Thus, it is plausible that low abundance of Prevotella during pregnancy may be causally related to dysregulated immune development and high rates of allergies among children. We are not aware of any literature linking maternal and infant microbiome in women with asthma, and how these relationships differ from women without asthma. For these reasons, using the biospecimens collected in NICHD's B-WELL-Mom study, we successfully developed a project to investigate the changes in the gut microbiome composition of pregnant with asthma during pregnancy, and their newborns at birth, and at 4 months after birth. Thus, filling an important gap in the literature.