Monash University researchers have found that early exposure to antibiotics can trigger long-term susceptibility to asthma. The research team isolated a molecule produced by gut bacteria that in the future could be trialled as a simple treatment, in the form of a dietary supplement, for children at risk of asthma to prevent them from developing the disease.
The research led by Professor Ben Marsland and published today (TBC) in the journal,
Immunity – found a molecule, called IPA, that is crucial to long-term protection against Asthma.
Importantly the finding of the molecule produced by bacteria in a healthy gut provides an explanation as to why the recurrent use of antibiotics increases the risk of asthma, according to Professor Marsland. “We know that recurrent use of antibiotics early in life disrupts a person’s healthy gut microbiota and increases the risk of allergies and asthma. We have discovered that a consequence of antibiotic treatment is the depletion of bacteria that produce IPA, thus reducing a key molecule that has the potential to prevent asthma,” he said.
The first years of life are important in developing a stable gut microbiota, according toProfessor Marsland.
“It is shaped first by food intake – both milk and solid foods – as well as genetics, and environmental exposures. Infants at high risk of allergies and asthma have been shown to have a disrupted and delayed maturation of the gut microbiome,” he said.
“The use of antibiotics in the first year of life can have the unintentional effect of reducing bacteria which promote health, and we now know from this research that antibiotics lead to reduced IPA, which we have found is critical early in life as our lung cells mature, making it a candidate for early life prevention of allergic airway inflammation.”
