Epidemiological data indicate a correlation between antibiotic intake in early life and the development of allergies and asthma in adulthood. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unknown.

In a recently published study, scientists from the Laboratory of Host-Microbiota Interactions at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Lausanne University Hospital, and the Respiratory Immunology Laboratory at Monash University discovered the unexpected role of the microbiome in this phenomenon. Using a mouse model of asthma, they discovered that there is a key post-natal window where antibiotic treatment causes long-term impairment in tryptophan metabolism by the microbiota. Consequently, the microbiota loses the capacity to produce Indole-3-propionic acid, causing long-term deregulation of airway epithelial cell function. Importantly, early-life ancillary treatment with IPA during the antibiotic treatment protects mice against allergic inflammation in adulthood.

These findings could have significant implications for allergy and asthma prevention. They could pave the way for developing an add-on treatment that, when combined with antibiotic prescription, could serve as a powerful preventative strategy against these conditions.

This work was published in Immunity (Cell Press).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074761324003169?dgcid=coauthor