Microbial characteristics in homes of asthmatic and non‐asthmatic adults in the ECRHS cohort |
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| Authors: | M Valkonen M Täubel J Pekkanen C Tischer H Rintala J‐P Zock L Casas N Probst‐Hensch B Forsberg M Holm C Janson I Pin T Gislason D Jarvis J Heinrich A Hyvärinen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Living Environment and Health Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland;2. Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland;3. Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;4. ISGlobal, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain;5. Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain;6. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain;7. Centre for Environment and Health – Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;8. Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium;9. Head Department Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland;10. Department of Public Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland;11. Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ume? University, Ume?, Sweden;12. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden;13. Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;14. CHU de Grenoble Alpes, INSERM U 1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France;15. Department of Respiratory Medicine and Sleep, Landspitali University Hospital (E7), Reykjavik, Iceland;16. Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland;17. Population Health and Occupational Disease, Imperial College, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, UK;18. MRC‐PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College, London, UK;19. Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital Munich, Ludwig Maximillians University Munich, Member of German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany;20. Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Microbial exposures in homes of asthmatic adults have been rarely investigated; specificities and implications for respiratory health are not well understood. The objectives of this study were to investigate associations of microbial levels with asthma status, asthma symptoms, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), and atopy. Mattress dust samples of 199 asthmatics and 198 control subjects from 7 European countries participating in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II study were analyzed for fungal and bacterial cell wall components and individual taxa. We observed trends for protective associations of higher levels of mostly bacterial markers. Increased levels of muramic acid, a cell wall component predominant in Gram‐positive bacteria, tended to be inversely associated with asthma (OR's for different quartiles: II 0.71 0.39‐1.30], III 0.44 0.23‐0.82], and IV 0.60 0.31‐1.18] P for trend .07) and with asthma score (P for trend .06) and with atopy (P for trend .02). These associations were more pronounced in northern Europe. This study among adults across Europe supports a potential protective effect of Gram‐positive bacteria in mattress dust and points out that this may be more pronounced in areas where microbial exposure levels are generally lower. |
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| Keywords: | asthma atopy bacteria fungi microbial exposure |
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