Ecological interactions in asthma: from environment to microbiota and immune responses

• Published in: Current opinion in pulmonary medicine Vol. 26; no. 1; p. 27
• Main Authors: Kozik, Ariangela, Huang, Yvonne J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Asthma - immunology; Asthma - microbiology; Ecological and Environmental Phenomena; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Immunity; Microbiota - physiology
• ISSN: 1531-6971
• DOI: 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000632

Asthma is a heterogeneous condition shaped not only by genetics but also host conditioning by environmental factors. Recognizing the ecological context of microbe-immune interactions across environments and body sites is a necessary step toward better understanding how human microbiota influence or drive the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of asthma in its various presentations. There is increasing evidence of a critical role for microbiota in asthma pathogenesis and outcomes across various body compartments, including the upper and lower airways, and gut. We discuss recent studies from this area including: development of a method to quantify microbial farm-effect in nonfarm environments, relationships between environmental microbial exposures and asthma prevalence across different geographies, microbiome-mediated responses to ozone, and microbiome-immune interactions within and across body compartments. Beyond bacteria, recent reports of asthma-associated differences in archaea and fungal organisms also are highlighted. Collective evidence warrants application of an ecological framework to advance mechanistic insights into microbiota-immune interactions in asthma. This is necessary to achieve goals of developing successful therapeutic interventions targeting modification of microbiomes.