Press release - Researchers from GenoScreen and the Cardio-Thoracic Research Centre of Bordeaux (Inserm U1045) have demonstrated relationships between microorganisms in indoor air and those in asthmatic patients’ lungs. This work, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and highlighted by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAI), also shows a variation in these micro- and mycobiota according to the patients’ inflammatory reaction type (T2 endotype).
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, although it can start at any age. It can be recognized by the recurrent episodes of breathing difficulties, called asthma attacks. Some acute attacks can last several hours or even days, conventional treatments not being able to calm them down. These episodes are called exacerbations.
The WHO estimates that currently 339 million people worldwide suffer from asthma. The deaths due to asthma are estimated to be more than 417,000 in 20161 , and WHO alerts on their increase in the next 10 years without public health measures2 .
Although the root causes of asthma are currently unknown, many risk factors have been identified, including bacteria and mildew of ambient air. The severity of asthma can also be reduced by limiting the exposure to the known triggers of its exacerbations (allergens, viruses, etc.).
This pilot study published in the “Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology3” is the first to highlight a relationship between the pulmonary bacterial and fungal communities of severe asthma patients and those of the indoor air in their homes. Carried out by the Cardio-Thoracic Research Center of Bordeaux (CRCTB, Inserm U1045, University of Bordeaux, Inserm, Bordeaux University Hospital) and GenoScreen (Lille), this study demonstrated a microbial signature in these microbial communities, specific to severe asthma, depending on the nature of the patients’ inflammatory reaction. (Endotype T2.)
1 https://www.who.int/fr/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/asthma
2 https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/asthma/fr/
3 doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2020.08.035