Presentation: Early Gut <I>Bifidobacterium Breve</I> and <I>B. Catenulatum</I> Colonisation Differentially Modulate Eczema Risk in Children at High-Risk of Developing Allergic Disease ( World Allergy Congress)

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Hall D1 Foyer (Floor 3) (Coex Convention Center)

Intan Hakimah Ismail, MD, MMed , Department of Paediatrics, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Malaysia

Robert Boyle, MB ChB, PhD , Department of Paediatrics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Paul Licciardi, PhD , Allergy and Immune Disorders, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Frances Oppedisano, BAppSc , Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Roy Robins-Browne, MJB BCh, PhD , Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Mimi Tang, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FRCPA , Allergy and Immune Disorders, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Background: The increasing prevalence of allergic disease has been attributed in part to reduced microbial exposures associated with a modern lifestyle. An altered compositional signature and reduced diversity of the intestinal microbiota are linked to development of allergic disease. We investigated the relationship between dominant Bifidobacteriumspecies in stool during the early postnatal period and subsequent development of eczema, IgE-associated eczema and sensitisation in the first year of life.

Methods: Faecal samples were collected at age 1 week, 1 month and 3 months from infants at high risk of allergic disease, who were followed prospectively to age 12 months. Bifidobacteriumspecies were analysed by quantitative PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. Infants were examined at 3, 6 and 12 months, and skin prick test performed at 12 months. Eczema was diagnosed according to the UK-Working Party criteria.

Results: The presence of B. catenulatum at 3 months was associated with a higher risk of developing eczema (OR_adj = 4.5; 95% CI 1.56 to 13.05, P_adj = 0.005). Infants colonised with B. breve at 1 week (OR_adj = 0.29; 95% CI 0.09 to 0.95, P_adj = 0.041) and 3 months (OR_adj= 0.15; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.44, P_adj = 0.00001) had a reduced risk of developing eczema. Furthermore, the presence of B. breve at 3 months was associated with a lower risk of atopic sensitisation at 12 months (OR_adj = 0.38; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.98, P_adj = 0.046). B. brevecolonisation patterns were influenced by maternal allergic status, household pets and number of siblings.

Conclusions: There are temporal variations of Bifidobacterium colonisation patterns early in life and these variations differentially modulate later development of eczema and/or atopic sensitisation in infants at high risk of allergic disease. Modulation of the early microbiota may provide a means for prevention of eczema in high risk infants.

1144 Early Gut Bifidobacterium Breve and B. Catenulatum Colonisation Differentially Modulate Eczema Risk in Children at High-Risk of Developing Allergic Disease