AUTHOR=Petursdottir Dagbjort H. , Nordlander Sofia , Qazi Khaleda Rahman , Carvalho-Queiroz Claudia , Ahmed Osman Omneya , Hell Eva , Björkander Sophia , Haileselassie Yeneneh , Navis Marit , Kokkinou Efthymia , Lio Ivan Zong Long , Hennemann Julia , Brodin Björn , Huseby Douglas L. , Nilsson Caroline , Hughes Diarmaid , Udekwu Klas I. , Sverremark-Ekström Eva TITLE=Early-Life Human Microbiota Associated With Childhood Allergy Promotes the T Helper 17 Axis in Mice JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01699 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2017.01699 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

The intestinal microbiota influences immune maturation during childhood, and is implicated in early-life allergy development. However, to directly study intestinal microbes and gut immune responses in infants is difficult. To investigate how different types of early-life gut microbiota affect immune development, we collected fecal samples from children with different allergic heredity (AH) and inoculated germ-free mice. Immune responses and microbiota composition were evaluated in the offspring of these mice. Microbial composition in the small intestine, the cecum and the colon were determined by 16S rRNA sequencing. The intestinal microbiota differed markedly between the groups of mice, but only exposure to microbiota associated with AH and known future allergy in children resulted in a T helper 17 (Th17)-signature, both systemically and in the gut mucosa in the mouse offspring. These Th17 responses could be signs of a particular microbiota and a shift in immune development, ultimately resulting in an increased risk of allergy.