Institution for Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Disease, University of Gothenburg, Guldhedsgatan 10, S-413 46, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Centre National de Référence des Staphylocoques, Hospices Civils de Lyon, CIRI, Université Lyon 1, Inserm U1111, CNRS UMR5308, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France.
Br J Dermatol. 2017 Feb;176(2):439-445. doi: 10.1111/bjd.15138. Epub 2016 Dec 9.
According to the hygiene hypothesis, insufficient immune activation by microbes increases the risk of allergy development. Staphylococcus aureus, which is part of the skin and gut microbiota of infants in Western countries, produces a variety of T-cell-activating enterotoxins, called superantigens.
To investigate whether early (0-2 months of age) gut colonization by S. aureus strains that carry specific superantigens and adhesins was related to subsequent development of atopic eczema in a Swedish birth cohort.
Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from rectal swabs and cultured quantitatively from faecal samples, with individual strains being tested for carriage of genes for superantigens and adhesins. Atopic eczema was diagnosed at onset of symptoms and at 18 months of age.
Although the frequency of early gut colonization by S. aureus was not related to subsequent eczema development, the S. aureus strains that were found to colonize those infants who developed atopic eczema were less likely to carry the gene encoding the superantigen SElM (P = 0·008) and the gene for elastin-binding protein (P = 0·03), compared with strains that were isolated from infants who had not developed atopic eczema by 18 months of age.
Gut colonization by S. aureus strains carrying a certain combination of superantigen and adhesin genes was negatively associated with subsequent development of atopic eczema. Such strains may provide stimulation and promote maturation of the infant immune system.
根据卫生假说，微生物引起的免疫激活不足会增加过敏发展的风险。金黄色葡萄球菌是西方国家婴儿皮肤和肠道微生物群的一部分，它产生多种 T 细胞激活肠毒素，称为超抗原。
研究携带特定超抗原和黏附素的金黄色葡萄球菌菌株在瑞典出生队列中早期（0-2 个月大）定植肠道是否与随后发生特应性湿疹有关。
从直肠拭子中分离金黄色葡萄球菌并对粪便样本进行定量培养，对各菌株进行携带超抗原和黏附素基因的检测。特应性湿疹在症状发作时和 18 个月时进行诊断。
虽然金黄色葡萄球菌早期定植肠道的频率与随后的湿疹发展无关，但定植于发生特应性湿疹的婴儿体内的金黄色葡萄球菌菌株携带超抗原 SELM 基因（P=0.008）和弹性蛋白结合蛋白基因（P=0.03）的可能性较小，与 18 个月时未发生特应性湿疹的婴儿分离的金黄色葡萄球菌菌株相比。
携带特定超抗原和黏附素基因组合的金黄色葡萄球菌菌株定植于肠道与随后发生特应性湿疹呈负相关。此类菌株可能为婴儿免疫系统提供刺激并促进其成熟。
