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Linking the maternal milk microbiota and infant respiratory infections

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 23, page 204 (2023)Cite this article

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Severe lower respiratory infections (sLRIs) are a group of illnesses that increase the risk of developing asthma. The increased prevalence of sLRIs in infants coincides with the development of the microbiota, and perturbing this axis increases sLRI severity. However, the mechanisms remain elusive.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are important regulators of the immune response in sLRIs; pDC depletion perturbs the expansion of regulatory T (Treg) cells, leading to more severe disease. A recent preprint (not peer reviewed) by Sikder et al. identifies a microbiota-dependent axis in the gut that is essential for pDC development during early life, conferring sLRI resistance.

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  1. Preprint Club, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lily Keane & Rochellys Diaz Heijtz

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  1. Lily Keane
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  2. Rochellys Diaz Heijtz
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Correspondence to Lily Keane.

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Keane, L., Diaz Heijtz, R. Linking the maternal milk microbiota and infant respiratory infections. Nat Rev Immunol 23, 204 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-023-00851-3

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