Skin microbiota and allergic symptoms associate with exposure to environmental microbes.

ABSTRACT: A rural environment and farming lifestyle are known to provide protection against allergic diseases. This protective effect is expected to be mediated via exposure to environmental microbes that are needed to support a normal immune tolerance. However, the triangle of interactions between environmental microbes, host microbiota, and immune system remains poorly understood. Here, we have studied these interactions using a canine model (two breeds, n = 169), providing an intermediate approach between complex human studies and artificial mouse model studies. We show that the skin microbiota reflects both the living environment and the lifestyle of a dog. Remarkably, the prevalence of spontaneous allergies is also associated with residential environment and lifestyle, such that allergie

SUBMITTER: Lehtimaki J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5948976 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature