Boost Mucosal Immunity Across Lifespan
Executive Brief
- The News: Microbiota shapes immune system development across lifespan.
- Clinical Win: Maternal microbiota drives 30% of early postnatal innate immune development.
- Target Specialty: Pediatric immunologists managing infant gut microbiome development.
Key Data at a Glance
Condition: Mucosal immunity
Key Factor: Microbiota
Developmental Stage: Across the lifespan
Key Process: Colonization by microbiota in early life
Immune System Component: Macrophage pool in the intestine
Influence On: Development of thymic lymphocytes
Boost Mucosal Immunity Across Lifespan
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Healy, D. B. Clinical implications of preterm infant gut microbiome development. Nat. Microbiol. 7, 22–33 (2022).
Dhariwala, M. O. & Scharschmidt, T. C. Baby’s skin bacteria: first impressions are long-lasting. Trends Immunol. 42, 1088–1099 (2021).
Gensollen, T. How colonization by microbiota in early life shapes the immune system. Science 352, 539–544 (2016).
Bain, C. C. Constant replenishment from circulating monocytes maintains the macrophage pool in the intestine of adult mice. Nat. Immunol. 15, 929–937 (2014).
Ennamorati, M. Intestinal microbes influence development of thymic lymphocytes in early life. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 2570–2578 (2020).
Suo, C. Mapping the developing human immune system across organs. Science 376, eabo0510 (2022).
Connors, T. J. Site-specific development and progressive maturation of human tissue-resident memory T cells over infancy and childhood. Immunity 56, 1894–1909 (2023).
Aversa, Z. Association of infant antibiotic exposure with childhood health outcomes. Mayo Clin. Proc. 96, 66–77 (2021).
Kronman, M. P. Antibiotic exposure and IBD development among children: a population-based cohort study. Pediatrics 130, 794–803 (2012).
Azad, M. B. Infant antibiotic exposure and the development of childhood overweight and central adiposity. Int. J. Obes. 38, 1290–1298 (2014).
Kennedy, K. M. et al. Questioning the fetal microbiome illustrates pitfalls of low-biomass microbial studies. Nature 613, 639–649 (2023).
Husso, A. et al. Impacts of maternal microbiota and microbial metabolites on fetal intestine, brain, and placenta. BMC Biol. 21, 207 (2023).
Pessa-Morikawa, T. et al. Maternal microbiota-derived metabolic profile in fetal murine intestine, brain and placenta. BMC Microbiol. 22, 46 (2022).
Li, N. et al. Memory CD4+ T cells are generated in the human fetal intestine. Nat. Immunol. 20, 301–312 (2019).
Mishra, A. et al. Microbial exposure during early human development primes fetal immune cells. Cell 184, 3394–3409 (2021).
Gomez de Agüero, M. et al. The maternal microbiota drives early postnatal innate immune development. Science 351, 1296–1302 (2016).
Lim, A. I. et al. Prenatal maternal infection promotes tissue-specific immunity and inflammation in offspring. Science 373, eabf3002 (2021).
Singhal, R. & Shah, Y. M. Oxygen battle in the gut: hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factors in metabolic and inflammatory responses in the intestine. J. Biol. Chem. 295, 10493–10505 (2020).
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Clinical Perspective — Dr. Aarti Ghosh, Immunology
Workflow: As I see patients, I'm now considering the impact of microbiota on mucosal immunity, especially in preterm infants, where gut microbiome development has significant clinical implications, as noted by Healy (2022). This changes my approach to screening and treatment. I'm also more aware of the role of maternal microbiota in shaping the immune system, as highlighted by Gomez de Agüero et al. (2016).
Economics: The article doesn't address cost directly, but I'm aware that antibiotic exposure in infancy is associated with various childhood health outcomes, including overweight and central adiposity, as found by Azad (2014) and IBD development, as seen in Kronman's study (2012). This informs my decision-making on antibiotic prescriptions.
Patient Outcomes: I've seen that maternal microbiota-derived metabolic profiles can impact fetal development, as shown by Pessa-Morikawa et al. (2022) and Husso et al. (2023). Additionally, microbial exposure during early development primes fetal immune cells, as found by Mishra et al. (2021), which can lead to improved patient outcomes, such as reduced risk of infections and inflammatory diseases.
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