Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy
ABSTRACT The environment plays an instrumental role in the developmental origins of health and disease. Protective features of the environment in the development of asthma and atopy have been insufficiently studied. We used data from the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2023-04-01
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| Series: | mSystems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.01190-22 |
| _version_ | 1797838324180713472 |
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| author | Vienna Buchholz Sarah L. Bridgman Charlene C. Nielsen Mireia Gascon Hein M. Tun Elinor Simons Stuart E. Turvey Padmaja Subbarao Tim K. Takaro Jeffrey R. Brook James A. Scott Piush J. Mandhane Anita L. Kozyrskyj |
| author_facet | Vienna Buchholz Sarah L. Bridgman Charlene C. Nielsen Mireia Gascon Hein M. Tun Elinor Simons Stuart E. Turvey Padmaja Subbarao Tim K. Takaro Jeffrey R. Brook James A. Scott Piush J. Mandhane Anita L. Kozyrskyj |
| author_sort | Vienna Buchholz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT The environment plays an instrumental role in the developmental origins of health and disease. Protective features of the environment in the development of asthma and atopy have been insufficiently studied. We used data from the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohort Study to examine relationships between living near natural green spaces in early infancy in Edmonton, AB, Canada and the development of atopic sensitization at 1 year and 3 years of age in a cohort of 699 infants, and whether these associations were mediated by infant gut microbiota (measured using 16s V4 amplicon sequencing) at 4 months. The Urban Planning Land Vegetation Index (uPLVI) map of the City of Edmonton was used to assess infants’ exposure to natural spaces based on their home postal codes, and atopic sensitization was assessed using skin prink testing (SPTs) for common food and inhalant allergens. Our findings suggest there is a protective effect of natural green space proximity on the development of multiple inhalant atopic sensitizations at 3 years (odds ratio = 0.28 [95% CI 0.09, 0.90]). This relationship was mediated by changes to Actinobacteria diversity in infant fecal samples taken at 4 months. We also found a positive association between nature proximity and sensitization to at least one food or inhaled allergen; this association was not mediated by gut microbiota. Together, these findings underscore the importance of promoting natural urban greenspace preservation to improve child health by reducing atopic disease susceptibility. IMPORTANCE Our findings highlight the importance of preserving natural green space in urban settings to prevent sensitization to environmental allergens and promote early-life gut microbiota pathways to this health benefit. These findings support a mediating role of gut microbiome compositions in health and disease susceptibility. This study used unique, accurate, and comprehensive methodology to classify natural space exposure via a high-resolution topographical map of foliage subtypes within the City of Edmonton limits. These methods are improvements from other methods previously used to classify natural space exposure, such as the normalized density vegetation index from satellite imagery, which is not able to distinguish anthropogenic from green space. The use of these methods and the associations found between natural green space exposure and atopic sensitization outcomes support their use in future studies. Our findings also provide many avenues for future research including longer term follow up of this cohort and investigation of a causal role of reduced Actinobacteria diversity on atopic sensitization development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:40:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a774c8e95dd94289b9674511e4331b14 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2379-5077 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:40:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | mSystems |
| spelling | doaj.art-a774c8e95dd94289b9674511e4331b142023-04-27T13:02:45ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymSystems2379-50772023-04-018210.1128/msystems.01190-22Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during InfancyVienna Buchholz0Sarah L. Bridgman1Charlene C. Nielsen2Mireia Gascon3Hein M. Tun4Elinor Simons5Stuart E. Turvey6Padmaja Subbarao7Tim K. Takaro8Jeffrey R. Brook9James A. Scott10Piush J. Mandhane11Anita L. Kozyrskyj12Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaBarcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), Barcelona, SpainThe Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of ChinaSection of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Pediatrics & Child Health, University of Manitoba and Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, BC Children’s Hospital, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics and Physiology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaFaculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, CanadaDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaABSTRACT The environment plays an instrumental role in the developmental origins of health and disease. Protective features of the environment in the development of asthma and atopy have been insufficiently studied. We used data from the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohort Study to examine relationships between living near natural green spaces in early infancy in Edmonton, AB, Canada and the development of atopic sensitization at 1 year and 3 years of age in a cohort of 699 infants, and whether these associations were mediated by infant gut microbiota (measured using 16s V4 amplicon sequencing) at 4 months. The Urban Planning Land Vegetation Index (uPLVI) map of the City of Edmonton was used to assess infants’ exposure to natural spaces based on their home postal codes, and atopic sensitization was assessed using skin prink testing (SPTs) for common food and inhalant allergens. Our findings suggest there is a protective effect of natural green space proximity on the development of multiple inhalant atopic sensitizations at 3 years (odds ratio = 0.28 [95% CI 0.09, 0.90]). This relationship was mediated by changes to Actinobacteria diversity in infant fecal samples taken at 4 months. We also found a positive association between nature proximity and sensitization to at least one food or inhaled allergen; this association was not mediated by gut microbiota. Together, these findings underscore the importance of promoting natural urban greenspace preservation to improve child health by reducing atopic disease susceptibility. IMPORTANCE Our findings highlight the importance of preserving natural green space in urban settings to prevent sensitization to environmental allergens and promote early-life gut microbiota pathways to this health benefit. These findings support a mediating role of gut microbiome compositions in health and disease susceptibility. This study used unique, accurate, and comprehensive methodology to classify natural space exposure via a high-resolution topographical map of foliage subtypes within the City of Edmonton limits. These methods are improvements from other methods previously used to classify natural space exposure, such as the normalized density vegetation index from satellite imagery, which is not able to distinguish anthropogenic from green space. The use of these methods and the associations found between natural green space exposure and atopic sensitization outcomes support their use in future studies. Our findings also provide many avenues for future research including longer term follow up of this cohort and investigation of a causal role of reduced Actinobacteria diversity on atopic sensitization development.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.01190-22atopic sensitizationnatural spacemicrobiomeinfantgut microbiotainfants |
| spellingShingle | Vienna Buchholz Sarah L. Bridgman Charlene C. Nielsen Mireia Gascon Hein M. Tun Elinor Simons Stuart E. Turvey Padmaja Subbarao Tim K. Takaro Jeffrey R. Brook James A. Scott Piush J. Mandhane Anita L. Kozyrskyj Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy mSystems atopic sensitization natural space microbiome infant gut microbiota infants |
| title | Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy |
| title_full | Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy |
| title_fullStr | Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy |
| title_short | Natural Green Spaces, Sensitization to Allergens, and the Role of Gut Microbiota during Infancy |
| title_sort | natural green spaces sensitization to allergens and the role of gut microbiota during infancy |
| topic | atopic sensitization natural space microbiome infant gut microbiota infants |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.01190-22 |
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