Environmental and Microbial Drivers of Allergic Disease: Mechanisms Linking the Exposome, the Microbiome, and Immune Dysregulation

Allergic diseases arise from dynamic, multifactorial interactions between host immunity, the microbial communities of the gut and mucosal surfaces, and the environment in which a person lives and breathes. Research now treats the microbiome as an active participant in immune education and allergic inflammation rather than a passive bystander, and increasingly frames environmental exposures — air pollutants, aeroallergens, climate, the indoor and occupational “exposome,” diet, and lifestyle — as forces that continuously reshape that microbiome and its dialogue with the immune system. Despite rapid progress, central questions remain: which environmental exposures shift the microbiome in ways that drive or protect against allergy; through what molecular and immunological mechanisms these effects are transmitted; and how microbiome- and environment-targeted strategies, including probiotics and other microbial interventions, can be harnessed for prevention and treatment.

This Research Topic aims to connect environmental determinants, the microbiome, and the immune mechanisms of allergic disease into a single, mechanistic picture. Key goals are to elucidate how environmental exposures and microbial communities interact to modulate allergic inflammation; to define the microbial metabolites and immune circuits that mediate these effects; to integrate clinical, epidemiological, and multi-omic evidence across the respiratory, skin, and gut compartments; and to assess the translational potential of microbiome- and environment-targeted interventions. By bringing together environmental scientists, microbiome and bioinformatics researchers, immunologists, and clinicians, we aim to foster a holistic view and identify new directions for allergy prevention and care.

The scope of this Research Topic is limited to studies addressing the interplay among environmental factors, the microbiome, and immune mechanisms in the context of allergic diseases, excluding research focused solely on non-allergic disorders or unrelated immune pathologies.

We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Environmental exposures (air pollution, aeroallergens, climate, indoor and occupational determinants) and their influence on the microbiome-immune axis in allergy
- Mechanistic studies of microbial-derived metabolites (e.g., short-chain fatty acids) and host-microbe signalling in allergic inflammation
- Microbiome composition and function across mucosal compartments (airway, nasal-oral, skin, gut) in allergic disease and the atopic march
- Probiotic, prebiotic, and other microbial interventions for allergy prevention and treatment, including mechanism of action
- Discovery and validation of microbial, metabolic, or environmental biomarkers of allergic disease risk and progression
- Multi-omic and bioinformatic approaches to profiling environment-microbiome-host interactions relevant to allergy

We invite original research, review articles, clinical and epidemiological studies, methods, and perspectives that advance our understanding of how the environment and the microbiome together shape the mechanisms of allergic disease.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Microbiome, Allergic diseases, Environmental determinants, Exposome, Immune mechanisms, Microbial metabolites, Probiotics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.