Early Colonization with a Group of Lactobacilli Decreases the Risk for Allergy at Five Years of Age Despite Allergic Heredity

Background: Microbial deprivation early in life can potentially influence immune mediated disease development such as allergy. The aims of this study were to investigate the influence of parental allergy on the infant gut colonization and associations between infant gut microbiota and allergic disease at five years of age. Methods and Findings: Fecal samples were collected from 58 infants, with allergic or non-allergic parents respectively, at one and two weeks as well as at one, two and twelve months of life. DNA was extracted from the fecal samples and Real time PCR, using species-specific primers, was used for detection of Bifidobacterium (B.) adolescentis, B. breve, B. bifidum, Clostridium (C.) difficile, a group of Lactobacilli (Lactobacillus (L.) casei, L. paracasei and L. rhamnosus) as well as Staphylococcus (S.) aureus. Infants with non-allergic parents were more frequently colonized by Lactobacilli compared to infants with allergic parents (p = 0.014). However, non-allergic five-year olds acquired Lactobacilli more frequently during their first weeks of life, than their allergic counterparts, irrespectively of parental allergy (p = 0.009, p = 0.028). Further the non-allergic children were colonized with Lactobacilli on more occasions during the first two months of life (p = 0.038). Also, significantly more non-allergic children were colonized with B. bifidum at one week of age than the children allergic at five years (p = 0.048). Conclusion: In this study we show that heredity for allergy has an impact on the gut microbiota in infants but also that earl

Intestinal microbiota in human health and disease: the impact of probiotics

The complex communities of microorganisms that colonise the human gastrointestinal tract play an important role in human health. The development of culture-independent molecular techniques has provided new insights in the composition and diversity of the intestinal microbiota. Here, we summarise the present state of the art on the intestinal microbiota with specific attention for the application of high-throughput functional microbiomic approaches to determine the contribution of the intestinal microbiota to human health. Moreover, we review the association between dysbiosis of the microbiota and both intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. Finally, we discuss the potential of probiotic microorganism to modulate the intestinal microbiota and thereby contribute to health and well-being. The effects of probiotic consumption on the intestinal microbiota are addressed, as well as the development of tailor-made probiotics designed for specific aberrations that are associated with microbial dysbiosis

Adaptação cultural de instrumento que avalia atividades do trabalho e sua relação com sintomas osteomusculares Adaptación cultural de un instrumento que evalúa actividades del trabajo y su relación con síntomas osteomusculares Cross-cultural adaptation of an instrument to measure work-related activities that may contribute to osteomuscular symptoms

OBJETIVO: Traduzir e adaptar culturalmente o questionário Work-related activities that may contribute to job-related pain and/or injury para o português falado no Brasil e verificar a validade de conteúdo desta nova versão. MÉTODOS: A adaptação cultural seguiu normas internacionalmente aceitas com as etapas de tradução, síntese, retro-tradução, avaliação por um comitê de especialistas e pré-teste. Esta versão do instrumento foi aplicada em 40 trabalhadores. RESULTADOS: O procedimento de adaptação cultural foi realizado com sucesso. O comitê de especialistas verificou a validade de conteúdo e realizou algumas modificações. No pré-teste, 7,5% dos indivíduos indicaram sugestões para um item do questionário e 17,5% demonstraram dificuldades no entendimento da instrução. Informações adicionais foram incluídas para tornar o instrumento final mais compreensível. CONCLUSÕES: A versão brasileira deste instrumento foi obtida com sucesso.<br>OBJETIVO: Traducir y adaptar culturalmente el cuestionario Work-related activities that may contribute to job-related pain and/or injury al portugués hablado en el Brasil y verificar la validez de contenidos de esta nueva versión. MÉTODOS: La adaptación cultural siguió normas internacionalmente aceptadas con las etapas de traducción, síntesis, retro-traducción, evaluación por un comité de especialistas y pre test. Esta versión del instrumento fue aplicada a 40 trabajadores. RESULTADOS: El procedimiento de adaptación cultural fue realizado con éxito. El comité de especialistas verificó la validez de contenido y realizó algunas modificaciones. En el pre test, el 7,5% de los individuos indicaron sugerencias para un item del cuestionario y el 17,5% demostraron dificultades en el entendimiento de la instrucción. Las informaciones adicionales fueron incluidas para conseguir que el instrumento final sea más comprensible. CONCLUSIONES: La versión brasileña de este instrumento fue obtenida con éxito.<br>OBJECTIVE: To translate the Work-Related Activities Questionnaire into Brazilian Portuguese and to evaluate its cross-cultural adaptation among a sample of Brazilian workers. METHODS: International standard recommendations were followed to translate and back-translate the instrument, and to establish the cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument using content experts and pretest. A field testing of the instrument was conducted with 40 Brazilian workers. RESULTS: The procedure used to establish the cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument was found to be adequate. The panels of experts evaluated the initial content validity of the items of the instrument and suggested necessary revisions to achieve an acceptable content validity. In the pretest, 7.5% of individuals suggested changes in one of the items of the instrument. In addition, 17.5% of the individuals reported having difficulty understanding the instructions to complete the instrument. These findings led to further revision of the instrument. CONCLUSION: The Brazilian version of the instrument was adequately cross-culturally adapted and validated

Confounding with familial determinants affects the association between mode of delivery and childhood asthma medication : a national cohort study

BACKGROUND: Mode of delivery may affect the risk of asthma but the findings have not been consistent and factors shared by siblings may confound the associations in previous studies. METHODS: The association between mode of delivery and dispensed inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) (a marker of asthma) was examined in a register based national cohort (n=199 837). A cohort analysis of all first born children aged 2-5 and 6-9 years was performed. An age-matched sibling-pair analysis was also performed to account for shared genetic and environmental risk factors. RESULTS: Analyses of first-borns demonstrated that elective caesarean section was associated with an increased risk of dispensed ICS in both 2-5 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.29) and 6-9 (aOR=1.21, 1.09-1.34) age groups. In the sibling-pair analysis, the increased risk associated with elective caesarean section was confirmed in 2-5 year olds (aOR=1.22, 1.05-1.43) but not in 6-9 year olds (aOR=1.06, 0.78-1.44). Emergency caesarean section and vacuum extraction had some association with dispensed ICS in the analyses of first-borns but these associations were not confirmed in the sibling-pair analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Confounding by familial factors affects the association between mode of delivery and dispensed ICS. Despite this confounding, there was some evidence that elective caesarean section contributed to a modestly increased risk of dispensed ICS but only up to five years of age