Environmental biodiversity, human microbiota, and allergy are interrelated

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 109; no. 21; pp. 8334 - 8339
• Main Authors: Hanski, Ilkka, von Hertzen, Leena, Fyhrquist, Nanna, Koskinen, Kaisa, Torppa, Kaisa, Laatikainen, Tiina, Karisola, Piia, Auvinen, Petri, Paulin, Lars, Mäkelä, Mika J, Vartiainen, Erkki, Kosunen, Timo U, Alenius, Harri, Haahtela, Tari
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 22.05.2012; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Acinetobacter; Acinetobacter - immunology; Adolescent; adolescents; Allergens; Allergies; Alphaproteobacteria; Alphaproteobacteria - immunology; Bacillus; Bacillus - immunology; Betaproteobacteria; Betaproteobacteria - immunology; Biodiversity; Biodiversity loss; Biological Sciences; Civilization; Clostridium; Clostridium - immunology; Commensals; correlation; Cytokines; Environmental Exposure; epidemiology; Finland; Finland - epidemiology; Gammaproteobacteria; Gammaproteobacteria - immunology; Gene expression; Genera; Gram-negative bacteria; Humans; Hygiene Hypothesis; hypersensitivity; Hypersensitivity - epidemiology; Hypersensitivity - immunology; Hypersensitivity - microbiology; immunology; interleukin-10; Land use; Logistic Models; Metagenome; Metagenome - immunology; microbiology; Microbiota; mononuclear leukocytes; Plants; Prevalence; Public health; Random Allocation; Skin; Skin - immunology; Skin - microbiology; Species; urban population; Urban populations; Finland
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1205624109

Rapidly declining biodiversity may be a contributing factor to another global megatrend—the rapidly increasing prevalence of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases among urban populations worldwide. According to the "biodiversity hypothesis," reduced contact of people with natural environmental features and biodiversity may adversely affect the human commensal microbiota and its immunomodulatory capacity. Analyzing atopic sensitization (i.e., allergic disposition) in a random sample of adolescents living in a heterogeneous region of 100 x 150 km, we show that environmental biodiversity in the surroundings of the study subjects’ homes influenced the composition of the bacterial classes on their skin. Compared with healthy individuals, atopic individuals had lower environmental biodiversity in the surroundings of their homes and significantly lower generic diversity of gammaproteobacteria on their skin. The functional role of the Gram-negative gammaproteobacteria is supported by in vitro measurements of expression of IL-10, a key anti-inflammatory cytokine in immunologic tolerance, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In healthy, but not in atopic, individuals, IL-10 expression was positively correlated with the abundance of the gammaproteobacterial genus Acinetobacter on the skin. These results raise fundamental questions about the consequences of biodiversity loss for both allergic conditions and public health in general.