Cell host & microbe
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Cell host & microbe · May 2015
ReviewMicrobiota in allergy and asthma and the emerging relationship with the gut microbiome.
Asthma and atopy, classically associated with hyper-activation of the T helper 2 (Th2) arm of adaptive immunity, are among the most common chronic illnesses worldwide. Emerging evidence relates atopy and asthma to the composition and function of the human microbiome, the collection of microbes that reside in and on and interact with the human body. ⋯ In this review we explore the roles of respiratory, gut, and environmental microbiomes in asthma and allergic disease development, manifestation, and attenuation. Though still a relatively nascent field of research, evidence to date suggests that the airway and/or gut microbiome may represent fertile targets for prevention or management of allergic asthma and other diseases in which adaptive immune dysfunction is a prominent feature.
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The unprecedented scale of the recent Ebola virus outbreak caused many to wonder whether this virus is different, and raised concerns about how to contain the outbreak. Two recent studies published in Science (Hoenen et al., 2015; Marzi et al., 2015) shed light on the subject and offer a new solution.