Intestinal archaea inversely associated with childhood asthma

Publication date: Available online 20 February 2019

Source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Author(s): David J.M. Barnett, Monique Mommers, John Penders, Ilja C.W. Arts, Carel Thijs

Abstract

Background

Methanogenic archaea are a key part of the gut microbiota alongside bacteria. However there is comparatively little research on the role of archaea in health.

Objective

As in-vitro and animal experiments have demonstrated immunological effects of archaea, we hypothesised that intestinal exposure to archaeal species would influence the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases. We present the first human study connecting gut archaea with childhood asthma.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional analysis nested within the Dutch KOALA Birth Cohort Study. DNA from two common intestinal archaeal species, Methanosphaera stadtmanae and Methanobrevibacter smithii, was quantified in faecal samples from 472 children at school age, using qPCR.

Our primary outcome was parent-reported asthma at 6-10 years. Secondary outcomes were questionnaire-reported eczema, total serum IgE levels, sensitisation to aero- and food-allergens and lung function (FEV1/FVC).

Associations between the presence/absence of each archaeal species and outcome were assessed with logistic or linear regression models, adjusted for potential confounders.

Results

Presence of M. stadtmanae was significantly associated with a lower risk of asthma, adjusted OR 0.32 (0.08 – 0.98). In addition, asthma risk decreased monotonically across three categories of increasing M. stadtmanae abundance (adjusted p-for-trend = 0.035). We also observed a non-significant tendency for less eczema and IgE sensitisation amongst children with M. stadtmanae. M. smithii was not associated with any outcome.

Conclusion

Further longitudinal and experimental research is needed to explore whether archaea could be directly linked to asthma risk, or if archaeal abundance is indicative of other health-relevant variation in microbiota composition.

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