Perinatal Bacterial Exposure Contributes to IL-13 Aeroallergen Response

Association of organophosphorus pesticides and glyphosate exposure with nasal flora and total IgE in solar greenhouse workers: A unique farmer group

Studies have shown that the presence of allergens, including insecticides, significantly increases the risk of occupational allergic diseases among solar greenhouse workers. However, no studies have investigated the relationship between organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) used by solar greenhouse workers and allergic diseases, and the role of nasal flora in this context remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between combined exposure to organophosphorus pesticides and glyphosate (GLY) with changes in total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels, as well as to analyze the role of nasal flora in allergic status. We collected demographic data, urine, peripheral blood and nasal swab samples from 284 solar greenhouse workers. Six metabolites in urine were detected by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Total IgE concentration was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Then, we evaluated the association between OPs and GLY with total IgE levels using logistic regression analysis. In addition, 66 participants received 16S rDNA sequencing of nasal flora, followed by community diversity and species difference analyses to identify distinct microbial communities between normal and elevated total IgE groups. A total of 284 participants were included in this study, of whom 132 (46.5%) and 152 (53.5%) were male and female, respectively. The median total IgE concentration in this population was 63.52 IU/mL, of which 89 (31.3%) belonged to the elevated total IgE group. Our results suggest that dimethylphosphorodithioate (DMDTP) was a risk factor for total IgE abnormality, and GLY was positively associated with total IgE abnormality. Additionally, 20 differential flora were identified between the elevated and normal IgE groups, of which at least seven were significantly associated with OPs, GLY and their metabolites. In conclusion, there was a positive correlation between exposure to OPs and GLY with total IgE abnormalities, as well as multiple nasal pathogenic flora.

Necrotizing Enterocolitis and the Preterm Infant Microbiome

Preterm infants differ significantly from their term infant counterparts regarding bacterial colonization patterns related to maternal microbiota diversity, mode of delivery, feeding type, antibiotic exposure, and the environmental influences related to prolonged hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a multifactorial intestinal disorder characterized by ischemic bowel disease, disproportionately impacts preterm infants and has a high disease burden. Recent studies in the basic, translational, and clinical scientific literature have advanced knowledge into this complex disease process. Despite the explosion of research into NEC, however, there is a still a great deal unknown about this devastating illness. Additionally, the disease morbidity and mortality for NEC remain high despite advances in therapy options. This chapter reviews the current literature into the preterm infant microbiome, pathogenesis of NEC, potential targets for altering preterm microbiome, influence of microbiome on other organ systems, long-term implications of microbiome dysbiosis, and future directions of study.

BORN TO WHEEZE OR LEARNED WHEN WE WERE YOUNG: MATERNAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INFLUENCE ATOPIC RISK

The prevalence of atopic diseases is increasing globally, particularly in children. Heritable genetics can partially explain risk of disease. Evidence also points to acquired genetic material, in the form of the microbiome, as an important factor in disease pathogenesis. The acquisition of the microbiome dynamically changes in response to differences in lifestyle and environmental factors. Also, in utero, maternal and environmental factors influence atopic risk for allergic rhinitis, eczema, asthma, and food allergy. Combining the analytical power of omics, we focus on how the microbiota mediates effects between mother, environment, immunity, and risk of atopic disease. In parallel, we stress that health care disparities impact asthma morbidity and mortality. Efforts to improve asthma outcomes must include multidisciplinary strategies.

NCPLP: A Novel Approach for Predicting Microbe-Associated Diseases With Network Consistency Projection and Label Propagation

A growing number of clinical studies have provided substantial evidence of a close relationship between the microbe and the disease. Thus, it is necessary to infer potential microbe-disease associations. But traditional approaches use experiments to validate these associations that often spend a lot of materials and time. Hence, more reliable computational methods are expected to be applied to predict disease-associated microbes. In this article, an innovative mean for predicting microbe-disease associations is proposed, which is based on network consistency projection and label propagation (NCPLP). Given that most existing algorithms use the Gaussian interaction profile (GIP) kernel similarity as the similarity criterion between microbe pairs and disease pairs, in this model, Medical Subject Headings descriptors are considered to calculate disease semantic similarity. In addition, 16S rRNA gene sequences are borrowed for the calculation of microbe functional similarity. In view of the gene-based sequence information, we use two conventional methods (BLAST+ and MEGA7) to assess the similarity between each pair of microbes from different perspectives. Especially, network consistency projection is added to obtain network projection scores from the microbe space and the disease space. Ultimately, label propagation is utilized to reliably predict microbes related to diseases. NCPLP achieves better performance in various evaluation indicators and discovers a greater number of potential associations between microbes and diseases. Also, case studies further confirm the reliable prediction performance of NCPLP. To conclude, our algorithm NCPLP has the ability to discover these underlying microbe-disease associations and can provide help for biological study.

Transcriptome Responses to Defined Insecticide Selection Pressures in the German Cockroach (Blattella germanica L.)

Cockroaches are important global urban pests from aesthetic and health perspectives. Insecticides represent the most cost-effective way to control cockroaches and limit their impacts on human health. However, cockroaches readily develop insecticide resistance, which can quickly limit efficacy of even the newest and most effective insecticide products. The goal of this research was to understand whole-body physiological responses in German cockroaches, at the metatranscriptome level, to defined insecticide selection pressures. We used the insecticide indoxacarb as the selecting insecticide, which is an important bait active ingredient for cockroach control. Six generations of selection with indoxacarb bait produced a strain with substantial (>20×) resistance relative to inbred control lines originating from the same parental stock. Metatranscriptome sequencing revealed 1,123 significantly differentially expressed (DE) genes in ≥two of three statistical models (81 upregulated and 1,042 downregulated; FDR P < 0.001; log2FC of ±1). Upregulated DE genes represented many detoxification enzyme families including cytochrome-P450 oxidative enzymes, hydrolases and glutathione-S-transferases. Interestingly, the majority of downregulated DE genes were from microbial and viral origins, indicating that selection for resistance is also associated with elimination of commensal, pathogenic and/or parasitic microbes. These microbial impacts could result from: (i) direct effects of indoxacarb, (ii) indirect effects of antimicrobial preservatives included in the selecting bait matrix, or (iii) selection for general stress response mechanisms that confer both xenobiotic resistance and immunity. These results provide novel physiological insights into insecticide resistance evolution and mechanisms, as well as novel insights into parallel fitness benefits associated with selection for insecticide resistance.

Household environmental microbiota influences early-life eczema development

Exposure to a diverse microbial environment during pregnancy and early postnatal period is important in determining predisposition towards allergy. However, the effect of environmental microbiota exposure during preconception, pregnancy and postnatal life on development of allergy in the child has not been investigated so far. In the S-PRESTO (Singapore PREconception Study of long Term maternal and child Outcomes) cohort, we collected house dust during all three critical window periods and analysed microbial composition using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. At 6 and 18 months, the child was assessed for eczema by clinicians. In the eczema group, household environmental microbiota was characterized by presence of human-associated bacteria Actinomyces, Anaerococcus, Finegoldia, Micrococcus, Prevotella and Propionibacterium at all time points, suggesting their possible contributions to regulating host immunity and increasing the susceptibility to eczema. In the home environment of the control group, putative protective effect of an environmental microbe Planomicrobium (Planococcaceae family) was observed to be significantly higher than that in the eczema group. Network correlation analysis demonstrated inverse relationships between beneficial Planomicrobium and human-associated bacteria (Actinomyces, Anaerococcus, Finegoldia, Micrococcus, Prevotella and Propionibacterium). Exposure to natural environmental microbiota may be beneficial to modulate shed human-associated microbiota in an indoor environment.

Perinatal granulopoiesis and risk of pediatric asthma

There are perinatal characteristics, such as gestational age, reproducibly associated with the risk for pediatric asthma. Identification of biologic processes influenced by these characteristics could facilitate risk stratification or new therapeutic targets. We hypothesized that transcriptional changes associated with multiple epidemiologic risk factors would be mediators of pediatric asthma risk. Using publicly available transcriptomic data from cord blood mononuclear cells, transcription of genes involved in myeloid differentiation was observed to be inversely associated with a pediatric asthma risk stratification based on multiple perinatal risk factors. This gene signature was validated in an independent prospective cohort and was specifically associated with genes localizing to neutrophil-specific granules. Further validation demonstrated that umbilical cord blood serum concentration of PGLYRP-1, a specific granule protein, was inversely associated with mid-childhood current asthma and early-teen FEV1/FVCx100. Thus, neutrophil-specific granule abundance at birth predicts risk for pediatric asthma and pulmonary function in adolescence.

Childhood Development and the Microbiome-The Intestinal Microbiota in Maintenance of Health and Development of Disease During Childhood Development

The composition of the intestinal microbiome affects health from the prenatal period throughout childhood, and many diseases have been associated with dysbiosis. The gut microbiome is constantly changing, from birth throughout adulthood, and several variables affect its development and content. Features of the intestinal microbiota can affect development of the brain, immune system, and lungs, as well as body growth. We review the development of the gut microbiome, proponents of dysbiosis, and interactions of the microbiota with other organs. The gut microbiome should be thought of as an organ system that has important effects on childhood development. Dysbiosis has been associated with diseases in children and adults, including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma, and allergies.

Immune network dysregulation precedes clinical diagnosis of asthma

Allergic asthma is a chronic disease beginning in childhood that is characterized by dominant T-helper 2 cell activation without adequate counter-regulation by T-helper 1 cell and regulatory T cell activity. Prior transcriptomic studies of childhood asthma have primarily investigated subjects who already have a disease diagnosis, and have generally taken an approach of differential gene expression as opposed to differential gene interactions. The immune states that predispose towards allergic sensitization and disease development remain ill defined. We thus characterize immune networks of asthmatic predisposition in children at the age of 2, prior to the diagnosis of allergic asthma, who are subsequently diagnosed with asthma at the age of 7. We show extensive differences of gene expression networks and gene regulatory networks in children who develop asthma versus those who do not using transcriptomic data from stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Moreover, transcription factors that bind proximally to one another share patterns of dysregulation, suggesting that network differences prior to asthma diagnosis result from altered accessibility of gene targets. In summary, we demonstrate non-allergen-specific immune network dysregulation in individuals long before clinical asthma diagnosis.

Rapid evolutionary responses to insecticide resistance management interventions by the German cockroach (Blattella germanica L.)

The German cockroach (Blattella germanica L.) is a worldwide pest that lives exclusively in human environments. B. germanica threatens human health by producing asthma-triggering allergens, vectoring pathogenic/antibiotic-resistant microbes, and by contributing to unhealthy indoor environments. While insecticides are essential for reducing cockroach populations and improving health outcomes, insecticide resistance has been a consistent barrier to cockroach control since the 1950s. We conducted seminal field studies to compare three insecticide resistance intervention strategies for cockroaches and evaluated resistance evolution across multiple generations. Using pre-treatment resistance assessment to drive decisions, we found that single active ingredient (AI) treatments can successfully eliminate cockroaches if starting resistance levels are low. We further established that rotation treatments intuitively reduce selection pressure, and are effective when insecticides with no/low resistance are used. We also found that mixture products containing thiamethoxam + λ-cyhalothrin AIs were universally ineffective and highly repellent; and finally, evolution of cross-resistance among AIs is a significant, previously unrealized challenge.