House dust exposure mediates gut microbiome Lactobacillus enrichment and airway immune defense against allergens and virus infection
Kei E. Fujimuraa,1,Tine Demoorb,1,Marcus Raucha, Ali A. Faruqia, Sihyug Jangb,Christine C. Johnsonc, Homer A. Bousheyd, Edward Zorattie,Dennis Ownbyf, Nicholas W. Lukacsb,2, and Susan V. Lyncha,2
Author Affiliations
Edited by Ralph R. Isberg, Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, and approved November 19, 2013 (received for review June 6, 2013)
Abstract
Early-life exposure to dogs is protective against allergic disease development, and dog ownership is associated with a distinct milieu of house dust microbial exposures. Here, we show that mice exposed to dog-associated house dust are protected against airway allergen challenge. These animals exhibit reduced Th2 cytokine production, fewer activated T cells, and a distinct gut microbiome composition, highly enriched for Lactobacillus johnsonii, which itself can confer airway protection when orally supplemented as a single species. This study supports the possibility that host–environment interactions that govern allergic or infectious airway disease may be mediated, at least in part, by the impact of environmental exposures on the gastrointestinal microbiome composition and, by extension, its impact on the host immune response.
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