Microbiome-derived asthma and allergy protective substances for prevention

Introduction

Asthma and allergies are the epidemic of the 21st century after a sharp rise in prevalence since the middle of the last century. Asthma is the most common chronic condition for children – at school age about every 10th pupil is affected in westernized countries. Likewise, allergic illnesses are very prevalent with 30-50% of the paediatric population being affected.

Current Challenges

Currently, there is neither cure nor effective prevention for asthma and allergies. However, these illnesses are largely environmentally determined. Exposures to the environmental microbiome greatly determine risk and protection from the onset of illness in populations of common genetic make-up.

Research Findings

My team and I have described relevant taxa of the environmental microbiome in the unique farm studies we pioneered. Very recently, we discovered the microbiome-derived functional agents conferring protection. These epidemiological findings, while being scientifically cutting edge, cannot be back translated to children’s and their families’ benefit.

Vision and Goals

My vision is thus to move the field of microbiome research forward towards in-depth characterization of microbe-derived metabolite complexes to better understand their associated asthma- and allergy-protective properties by advancing both the experimental and the human population-based studies.

APROSUS Project

The interdisciplinary APROSUS Project addresses this research gap. The aims are:

1. To characterize and synthesize these functional agents (aim 1).
2. To understand the underlying mechanisms of protection (aim 2).
3. To validate the findings in the population-based farm studies (aim 3).

Thereby, we will lay the ground for translation into innovative and effective prevention strategies to stop the asthma and allergy epidemic.