Selangor [Malaysia], July 15 (ANI): Early exposure to antibiotics might increase long-term vulnerability to asthma. Importantly, the study team discovered a chemical generated by gut bacteria that might possibly be used in the future as a simple therapy, in the form of a food supplement, to prevent asthma in children, according to recent study from Monash University. Asthma affects around 260 million people worldwide, resulting in approximately 455,000 deaths each year.
Professor Ben Marsland’s study, published today (TBC) in the journal Immunity, identified a molecule called IPA as critical for long-term asthma prevention. Importantly the finding of the molecule produced by bacteria in a healthy gut provides an explanation as to why the recurrent use of antibiotics increases the risk of asthma, according to Professor Marsland. “We know that recurrent use of antibiotics early in life disrupts a person’s healthy gut microbiota and increases the risk of allergies and asthma.
We have discovered that a consequence of antibiotic treatment is the depletion of bacteria that produce IPA, thus reducing a key molecule that has the potential to prevent asthma,” he said. The first years of life are important in developing a stable gut microbiota, according to Professor Marsland. “It is shaped first by food intake – both milk and solid foods – as well as genetics, and environmental exposures.
Infants at high risk of allergies and asthma have been shown to have a disrupted an.