Boulund Ulrika, Thorsen Jonathan, Trivedi Urvish, Tranæs Kaare, Jiang Jie, Shah Shiraz A, Stokholm Jakob
Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev-Gentofte, Gentofte, Denmark.
Section of Microbiology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gut Microbes. 2025 Dec;17(1):2457489. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2025.2457489. Epub 2025 Jan 30.
Asthma is a chronic disease affecting millions of children worldwide, and in severe cases requires hospitalization. The etiology of asthma is multifactorial, caused by both genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, the role of the early-life gut microbiome in relation to asthma has become apparent, supported by an increasing number of population studies, research, and intervention trials. Numerous early-life factors, which for decades have been associated with the risk of developing childhood asthma, are now being linked to the disease through alterations of the gut microbiome. These factors include cesarean birth, antibiotic use, breastfeeding, and having siblings or pets, among others. Association studies have highlighted several specific microbes that are altered in children developing asthma, but these can vary between studies and disease phenotype. This demonstrates the importance of the gut microbial ecosystem in asthma, and the necessity of well-designed studies to validate the underlying mechanisms and guide future clinical applications. In this review, we examine the current literature on the role of the gut microbiome in childhood asthma and identify research gaps to allow for future microbial-focused therapeutic applications in asthma.
哮喘是一种影响全球数百万儿童的慢性疾病，严重时需要住院治疗。哮喘的病因是多因素的，由遗传和环境因素共同导致。近年来，越来越多的人群研究、研究和干预试验表明，早期肠道微生物群在哮喘中的作用日益明显。数十年来，许多与儿童哮喘发病风险相关的早期因素，现在都通过肠道微生物群的改变与该疾病联系起来。这些因素包括剖宫产、抗生素使用、母乳喂养以及有兄弟姐妹或宠物等。关联研究突出了几种在患哮喘儿童中发生改变的特定微生物，但这些微生物在不同研究和疾病表型之间可能有所不同。这证明了肠道微生物生态系统在哮喘中的重要性，以及设计良好的研究以验证潜在机制并指导未来临床应用的必要性。在本综述中，我们研究了关于肠道微生物群在儿童哮喘中作用的当前文献，并确定研究空白，以便未来在哮喘中开展以微生物为重点的治疗应用。
