Journal article
Reduced gut microbial diversity in early life is associated with later development of eczema but not atopy in high-risk infants
IH Ismail, F Oppedisano, SJ Joseph, RJ Boyle, PV Licciardi, RM Robins-Browne, MLK Tang
Pediatric Allergy and Immunology | Published : 2012
Abstract
Background: Alterations in intestinal microflora have been linked to the development of allergic disease. Recent studies suggest that healthy infant immune development may depend on the establishment of a diverse gut microbiota rather than the presence or absence of specific microbial strains. Objectives: We investigated the relationship between diversity of gut microbiota in the early postnatal period and subsequent development of eczema and atopy in the first year of life. Methods: Fecal samples were collected 1wk after birth from 98 infants at high risk of allergic disease, who were followed prospectively to age 12months. Fecal microbial diversity was assessed by terminal restriction frag..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Declaration of all sources of funding: The studies were funded by grants from the Jack Brockhoff Foundation, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation. Intan Hakimah Ismail was supported by a scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia. Robert Boyle was supported by a University of Melbourne Baillieu Scholarship, a Murdoch Children's Research Institute Postgraduate Scholarship and a National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre. The Murdoch Children's Research Institute is supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program. LGG and placebo capsules were manufactured and supplied by Dicofarm ltd (Roma, Italy).