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Gut microbiota in wheezing preschool children and the development of childhood asthma

Background: We currently lack reliable biomarkers to predict whether wheezing, a common symptom in preschool children, will eventually progress into asthma. In this study, we profiled the gut microbiota in wheezing and healthy preschool children, and examined whether the gut microbiota composition in wheezing preschool children could predict asthma at the age of 6 years. Methods: In the Asthma DEetection and Monitoring study (ADEM), 202 preschool wheezing children aged 2-3 years and 50 healthy controls were followed until the age of 6 years, when a diagnosis of asthma was made. At preschool age, faecal samples were collected. The faecal microbial composition was analysed by sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 hypervariable gene region. Results: Overall microbial community structure and diversity were neither significantly different in wheezing preschool children compared to healthy controls, nor could these indices at preschool age predict future asthma. However, the relative abundance of genera Collinsella and Dorea was significantly lower in wheezing children compared to healthy controls (pfor trend= 0.024; pfor trend= 0.034, respectively), whereas Gemmiger and Escherichia were significantly higher in preschool wheezers that developed asthma (pfor trend= 0.044; pfor trend= 0.015, respectively). Conclusion: Some specific microbial taxa differed between preschool wheezers who developed asthma and transient wheezers. However, overall gut microbiota composition at preschool age did not predict future asthma. It might be that gut microbiota earlier in life has a stronger association with asthma.