Asthma in infant boys may eventually be preventable, according to a study.

A new University of Alberta study shows that the family risk for asthma – typically passed from moms to babies – may not be a result of genetics alone: it may also involve the microbes found in a baby’s digestive tract.

AllerGen investigator and UAlberta microbiome epidemiologist Anita Kozyrskyj led a research team that found that Caucasian baby boys born to pregnant moms with asthma – who are typically at the highest risk for developing asthma in early childhood – were also one-third as likely to have a gut microbiome with specific characteristics at three to four months of age.

“We saw a significant reduction in the family of microbes called Lactobacillus in Caucasian baby boys born to pregnant women who had asthma, and this was especially evident if the asthmatic mother had allergies or was overweight,” said Kozyrskyj, senior author of the study and one of the world’s leading researchers on the gut microbiome – the community of microorganisms or bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of humans.

The study also found that maternal asthma had an impact on the gut bacterial profile of baby girls, but in a different way. “Baby girls were more likely to have higher amounts of bacteria in the Bacteroidaceae family, which are important for maintaining the mucus barrier that protects gut cells from damage by harmful substances,” said Kozyrskyj.

“We speculate that this may protect baby girls from developing asthma in early life. On the other hand, changes to bacterial composition specific to baby girls may increase their risk for developing asthma during puberty, when the gender switch in asthma occurs.”

“Given emerging research linking the gut microbiome to asthma and allergies, we are excited that our results have uncovered a new finding that may eventually contribute to the prevention of childhood asthma.”

The study was published in European Respiratory Journal.

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