The infant gut virome is associated with preschool asthma risk independently of bacteria

Area of Science:

• Microbiome research
• Pediatric health
• Immunology

Background:

• Gut bacteriophage (phage) communities significantly impact bacterial populations but their role in early life health and disease is largely unknown.
• Understanding the gut virome's influence on infant health is crucial for identifying novel disease associations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between gut virome composition and the development of asthma in early childhood.
• To explore the interplay between the gut virome, bacteriome, and host genetics in asthma risk.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the gut virome in 647 children from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) cohort.
• Deep phenotyping from birth and longitudinal assessment of asthma diagnoses.
• Statistical analysis to identify phage taxa associated with asthma and to assess combined virome-bacteriome effects and host genetic modulation.

Main Results:

• Specific temperate gut phage taxa, particularly 19 caudoviral families, were significantly associated with the later development of asthma.
• Combined virome and bacteriome signatures showed additive effects on asthma risk, indicating an independent virome-asthma association.
• Host TLR9 rs187084 gene variant modulated the virome-associated asthma risk, suggesting phage-host immune system interaction.

Conclusions:

• Gut phage communities are associated with asthma development in early life.
• Phages may play an independent role in asthma pathogenesis, interacting with the host immune system.
• Phages, bacteria, and host genetics could potentially serve as preclinical biomarkers for asthma.