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Airway Microbiota Dynamics Uncover a Critical Window for Interplay of Pathogenic Bacteria and Allergy in Childhood Respiratory Disease

To complement early allergic sensitization, monitoring NPM composition may enable early detection and intervention in high-risk children

Atopy-dependent and independent immune responses in the heightened severity of atopics to respiratory viral infections: Rat model studies

The co-exposure responses in the Th2high BN incorporated type I interferon/Th1, alternative macrophage activation/Th2 and Th17 signatures

Single cell transcriptomics reveals cell type specific features of developmentally regulated responses to lipopolysaccharide between birth and 5 years

Human perinatal life is characterized by a period of extraordinary change during which newborns encounter abundant environmental stimuli and exposure to potential pathogens. To meet such challenges, the neonatal immune system is equipped with unique functional characteristics that adapt to changing conditions as development progresses across the early years of life, but the molecular characteristics of such adaptations remain poorly understood.

Professor Wayne Thomas

Honorary Emeritus Fellow; Scientific Reviewer - Animal Ethics

Vitamin D deficiency linked to childhood asthma

Researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia have found children with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop asthma.

LPS binding protein and activation signatures are upregulated during asthma exacerbations in children

Asthma exacerbations in children are associated with respiratory viral infection and atopy, resulting in systemic immune activation and infiltration of immune cells into the airways. The gene networks driving the immune activation and subsequent migration of immune cells into the airways remains incompletely understood. Cellular and molecular profiling of PBMC was employed on paired samples obtained from atopic asthmatic children during acute virus-associated exacerbations and later during convalescence.

Maternal diet modulates the infant microbiome and intestinal Flt3L necessary for dendritic cell development and immunity to respiratory infection

Poor maternal diet during pregnancy is a risk factor for severe lower respiratory infections in the offspring, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that in mice a maternal low-fiber diet led to enhanced LRI severity in infants because of delayed plasmacytoid dendritic cell recruitment and perturbation of regulatory T cell expansion in the lungs.

Neonatal antigen-presenting cells are functionally more quiescent in children born under traditional compared with modern environmental conditions

One explanation for the high burden of allergic and autoimmune diseases in industrialized countries is inappropriate immune development under modern...

Fish oil supplementation in early infancy modulates developing infant immune responses

Maternal fish oil supplementation during pregnancy has been associated with altered infant immune responses and a reduced risk of infant sensitization and...

Meta-analysis identifies seven susceptibility loci involved in the atopic march

Eczema often precedes the development of asthma in a disease course called the 'atopic march'.