Effects of gut microbiome and environment on the development of eczema in Chinese infants

Hotspots and development trends of gut microbiota in atopic dermatitis: A bibliometric analysis from 1988 to 2024

BACKGROUND

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent inflammatory skin condition that commonly occurs in children. More and more scientific evidence suggests that gut microbiota plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD, whereas there is no article providing a comprehensive summary and analysis. We aimed to analyze documents on AD and gut microbiota and identify hotspots and development trends in this field.

METHODS

Articles and reviews in the field of AD and gut microbiota from January 1, 1988 to October 20, 2024 were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Biblioshiny was utilized for evaluating and visualizing the core authors, journals, countries, documents, trend topics, and hotspots in this field.

RESULTS

Among 1672 documents, it indicated that the number of annual publications generally increased. The United States had the highest production, impact, and international collaboration. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology was the journal of the maximum publications. Based on keyword co-occurrence and clustering analysis, "stratum-corneum lipids," "probiotics," "prebiotics," "fecal microbiota transplantation," "phage therapy," "short chain fatty-acids," "biologic therapy," and "skin inflammation" represented current trend topics. The pathological and molecular mechanisms and associated therapeutic methods for AD and gut microbiota were the research hotspots. The incorporation of microbiota-based therapies alongside conventional treatments can contribute to better clinical outcomes.

CONCLUSION

We highlighted that gut microbiota may exacerbate symptoms of AD through various aspects, including immunity, metabolites, and neuroendocrine pathways. More efforts are required to investigate the safety and efficacy of gut microbial management methods for the prevention and treatment of AD.

Analysis of heritability and environmental factors in preschool children with eczema: a case-control study

Eczema is common in children, and its onset is affected by both genetic and environmental factors. We investigated the effects of genetic and environmental factors on the incidence of eczema in preschool children. 515 preschool children with eczema and 515 children participating in the physical examination were enrolled. The study included the incidence of childhood eczema, the child's birth and feeding conditions, the history of eczema in the parents, and relevant environmental risk factors, and to comprehensively analyze the genetic and environmental factors influencing childhood eczema. Among 1030 children, 173 parents (8.4%) had eczema, with a heritability of 73.59% for boys' parents and 58.59% for girls' parents. Multivariate logistic regression results showed that premature infants, low birth weight, children who had used antibiotics before the age of 1 year the living environment between the first year of mother pregnancy and the first year of the child is humid, a father with a history of eczema, a mother with a history of eczema are risk factors for eczema in children. Actively preventing environmental factors related to eczema may be an effective means to reduce the risk of eczema in children.

Multikingdom and functional gut microbiota markers for autism spectrum disorder

Associations between the gut microbiome and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been investigated although most studies have focused on the bacterial component of the microbiome. Whether gut archaea, fungi and viruses, or function of the gut microbiome, is altered in ASD is unclear. Here we performed metagenomic sequencing on faecal samples from 1,627 children (aged 1-13 years, 24.4% female) with or without ASD, with extensive phenotype data. Integrated analyses revealed that 14 archaea, 51 bacteria, 7 fungi, 18 viruses, 27 microbial genes and 12 metabolic pathways were altered in children with ASD. Machine learning using single-kingdom panels showed area under the curve (AUC) of 0.68 to 0.87 in differentiating children with ASD from those that are neurotypical. A panel of 31 multikingdom and functional markers showed a superior diagnostic accuracy with an AUC of 0.91, with comparable performance for males and females. Accuracy of the model was predominantly driven by the biosynthesis pathways of ubiquinol-7 or thiamine diphosphate, which were less abundant in children with ASD. Collectively, our findings highlight the potential application of multikingdom and functional gut microbiota markers as non-invasive diagnostic tools in ASD.

Atopic Dermatitis: Conventional and Integrative Medicine

Although Western medicine and ideas about atopic dermatitis (AD) have become popular in many Asian countries, local beliefs about the disease and its treatment often prevail. The multi- racial background of these countries as well as the influence of the diverse religions (such as Taoism and Ramadan) in these regions often lead to diverse belief systems about the causes of AD (such as the Chi concept, also known as the balance of yin and yang) and the types of treatment (e.g. herbal remedies, topical versus concoctions, and decoctions). In addition, many of the cultural practices are preserved among the Southeast Asian minorities residing in the United Kingdom and North America. Eastern treatments typically take a holistic approach to AD and emphasize the psychosomatic component of the disorder. This overview provides a summary of the difference between conventional, complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine in terms of epidemiology, aetiology, therapy, and prognosis in children with AD. There are a number of similarities in genetic and environmental factors in epidemiology and aetiology; however, differences exist in terms of the concept of management. Complementary and alternative medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and integrative medicine usage are not only prevalent among the Asian population but are also becoming more popular and accepted in Western societies.

Association of early-life gut microbiome and lifestyle factors in the development of eczema in Hong Kong infants

Childhood eczema is common but its prevalence is variable in different regions of the world. In this study, we explore the associations of various risk factors such as the microbiome, environment, lifestyle, diet and maternal stress with the development of eczema among infants in Hong Kong. Upon enrolment in the study, the infants' parents provided demographic data by self-reporting. At enrolment and 1 year after birth, the infants' allergic conditions, lifestyles and dietary factors and the degree of maternal stress were assessed using various questionnaires. The infants' gut microbiomes were analysed by 16S RNA sequencing, and the longitudinal changes in various bacterial strains were compared between control and eczema-affected groups. Multivariate analyses (after adjustment for other significant factors) revealed that the changes in the abundance of Hungatella hathewayi in the gut were significantly associated with the development of eczema (p = 0.005). In conclusion, the increased abundance of Hungatella hathewayi was associated with an increased risk of developing eczema by 1 year of age. This study thus explored the potential risk factors for the development of eczema in Hong Kong infants, and sheds light on the possible association between early-life gut microbiome and other environmental factors.