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New paper from Microbiome Insights co-founder on critical window for the gut microbiome in infants and the later occurrence of asthma

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Among serious and chronic childhood diseases, asthma is the most prevalent. Currently there exists no cure for asthma—only treatments designed to help manage symptoms. Recently, a body of research attempting to unravel how this condition develops  in young children has emerged, so that prevention may one day eliminate or reduce the burden of this chronic condition.

Recent work identified the existence of a critical window during the early lives of both mice and children, during which gut microbial changes are associated with the development of asthma. This provided an avenue to explore the role of the gut microbiome during early childhood development and the onset of chronic diseases like asthma. Importantly though, we know the gut microbiome varies greatly among those raised in different geographic regions. Therefore, understanding how changes in gut microbiota related to asthma development differ globally may provide valuable insights into the mechanism of asthma development.

A new paper, led by Microbiome Insights co-founder Brett Finlay and published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, evaluated the associations of fungal and bacterial changes (dysbiosis) in infants raised in the non-industrialized setting of rural Ecuador. The research was conducted as a collaboration between members of the Universities of British Colombia and Calgary, the BC Children’s Hospital, and Universidad Internacional del Ecuador. Children with atopic wheeze (27 in total) along with 70 healthy controls were identified and their bacterial and eukaryotic gut microbiota analysed at age 3 months. Stool samples were collected and sequencing of the 16S and 18S regions predicted bacterial metagenomes while fecal short chain fatty acids were determined via gas chromatography.

Results indicated that, similar to the previous findings in Canadian children, microbial dysbiosis in Ecuadorian infants at 3 months was associated with the subsequent development of atopic wheeze. Surprisingly though, the dysbiosis observed in Ecuador involved different bacteria taxa as well as some fungal species, and this was more pronounced than in Canada. Some predictions based on the metagenome analysis also emphasized significant dysbiosis-associated differences in genes involved in carbohydrate and taurine metabolism. The fecal short-chain fatty acid acetate was reduced while caproate was increased in children at 3 months who later developed atopic wheeze.

This work continues to provide evidence that there is a critical window during the first 100 days of life during which microbial dysbiosis is strongly associated with development of atopic wheeze. The study also yielded several valuable pieces of information. Despite the involvement of different bacteria taxa, both the Canadian and Ecuadorian populations had decreased fecal acetate, suggesting alterations to fermentation patterns may be a common factor associated with atopic wheeze. Furthermore, the pronounced role of fungal dysbiosis in this study led researchers to recommend that “the role of P. kudriavzevii and other yeasts should be explored in mechanistic studies using animal models.”

Along with more studies characterizing the early microbiome in more communities around the world, optimized biomarker studies of microbial taxa and metabolites could lead to better predictions of risk and therapeutic strategies to restore gut microbial health as a prevention method.

 

Microbiome Insights co-founder Dr. Brett Finlay to speak at Institut Pasteur event

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Microbiome Insights co-founder and co-CSO Brett Finlay will be one of the distinguished speakers heading to Paris from October 15th to 16th 2018 for the Institut Pasteur meeting: Modeling the Mammalian Microbiota Host Superorganism, Current Tools and Challenges.

Knowledge about the role of microbiota and microbial metabolites in host functions and health has steadily increased over the past two decades. With mechanistic insights enabled by animal models and an increasing ability to characterize microbial communities during both development and adulthood, researchers are on the cusp of real therapeutic treatments. The Institut Pasteur meeting will bring together academic and industry leaders from this field to share new visions on host-microbiota mutualisms and parasitism, and to discuss the latest techniques and models. Along with Dr. Finlay, some exciting names on the program include Dr. Andrew Macpherson of Inselspital in Bern, Switzerland, giving the keynote address, and Marion Leclerc from the MICALIS Institute in Jouy-En-Josas, France and Philippe Sansonetti of Institut Pasteur.

Finlay will present his talk, entitled The Role of the Early Life Microbiota in Malnutrition and Environmental Enteropathy during the ‘Models of Pathogenesis’ session on Monday, October 15th. He has published over 500 papers and, as a principal investigator at the University of British Columbia he studies how microbes interact with hosts to influence health and disease. His lab developed the first animal model for the study of environmental enteropathy, a key feature of childhood malnutrition. Ongoing work with this model is now funded by the Gates Foundation in order to explore how it can better our understanding of the consequences of malnutrition. The Finlay lab also investigates the risks for childhood asthma stemming from microbiota and metabolic alterations during infancy, and were the first lab to demonstrate that early life intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in asthma susceptibility.

By understanding how microbes colonize the small intestine and cause stunted growth and inflammation, Finlay and his collaborators hope to develop new nutritional therapies for human malnutrition. His lab’s work is essential for understanding the microbiota-host superorganism and the associations that are essential to maintain good health and development—making Finlay a “can’t miss” speaker at this prestigious meeting.