Living with Cat and Dog Increases Vaginal Colonization with E. coli in Pregnant Women

Stokholm, Jakob; Schjørring, Susanne; Pedersen, Louise; Bischoff, Anne Louise; Følsgaard, Nilofar V.; Carson, Claire; Chawes, Bo; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Mølgaard, Anne; Krogfelt, Karen A.; Bisgaard, Hans

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0046226

Cited by 30 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Pet exposure was also significantly associated with reduced Enterobacteriaceae among infants born vaginally without IAP but not exclusively breastfed afterwards. While our findings appear to contradict reports of greater Escherichia coli colonization in the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women who own pets [51], the timing of microbial changes in the developmental trajectory of infant microbiota is important to consider. Following vaginal delivery, Proteobacteria (especially Enterobacteriaceae ) are dominant within 3 months after birth, while Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes become more prevalent as the gut microbiota matures towards an adult-like profile [52].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 98%

Exposure to household furry pets influences the gut microbiota of infants at 3–4 months following various birth scenarios

et al. 2017

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BackgroundEarly-life exposure to household pets has the capacity to reduce risk for overweight and allergic disease, especially following caesarean delivery. Since there is some evidence that pets also alter the gut microbial composition of infants, changes to the gut microbiome are putative pathways by which pet exposure can reduce these risks to health. To investigate the impact of pre- and postnatal pet exposure on infant gut microbiota following various birth scenarios, this study employed a large subsample of 746 infants from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development Study (CHILD) cohort, whose mothers were enrolled during pregnancy between 2009 and 2012. Participating mothers were asked to report on household pet ownership at recruitment during the second or third trimester and 3 months postpartum. Infant gut microbiota were profiled with 16S rRNA sequencing from faecal samples collected at the mean age of 3.3 months. Two categories of pet exposure (i) only during pregnancy and (ii) pre- and postnatally were compared to no pet exposure under different birth scenarios.ResultsOver half of studied infants were exposed to at least one furry pet in the prenatal and/or postnatal periods, of which 8% were exposed in pregnancy alone and 46.8% had exposure during both time periods. As a common effect in all birth scenarios, pre- and postnatal pet exposure enriched the abundance of Oscillospira and/or Ruminococcus (P < 0.05) with more than a twofold greater likelihood of high abundance. Among vaginally born infants with maternal intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis exposure, Streptococcaceae were substantially and significantly reduced by pet exposure (P < 0.001, FDRp = 0.03), reflecting an 80% decreased likelihood of high abundance (OR 0.20, 95%CI, 0.06–0.70) for pet exposure during pregnancy alone and a 69% reduced likelihood (OR 0.31, 95%CI, 0.16–0.58) for exposure in the pre- and postnatal time periods. All of these associations were independent of maternal asthma/allergy status, siblingship, breastfeeding exclusivity and other home characteristics.ConclusionsThe impact of pet ownership varies under different birth scenarios; however, in common, exposure to pets increased the abundance of two bacteria, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira, which have been negatively associated with childhood atopy and obesity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40168-017-0254-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 98%

Exposure to household furry pets influences the gut microbiota of infants at 3–4 months following various birth scenarios

et al. 2017

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“…Our previous work has indicated differences in the microbiome of dust from homes with and without pets [33]. Stokholm et al [34] reported that in a cohort of 668 pregnant Danish women (COP-SAC), those who had a cat or dog in the home during pregnancy had increased Escherichia coli colonization in their vaginal flora compared with women with neither animal. Further, having a dog in the home during pregnancy is highly correlated with having a dog in the home during the child's few first years of life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…[(33)] Stokholm et al reported that in a cohort of 668 pregnant Danish women (COPSAC), those who had a cat or dog in the home during pregnancy had increased Escherichia coli colonization in their vaginal flora compared with women with neither animal. [(34)] Further, having a dog in the home during pregnancy is highly correlated with having a dog in the home during the child’s few first years of life. Any deficiencies in the child’s acquired microbiome due to a maternal vaginal or gut microbiome that has been altered by medication, may be subsequently and rapidly overcome by this very early exposure to a dog in the home environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined effects of prenatal medication use and delivery type are associated with eczema at age 2 years

Wegienka

Havstad

Zoratti

et al. 2015

Clin Experimental Allergy

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Background Separately, prenatal antibiotics and cesarian delivery have been found to be associated with increased risk of allergic diseases. It is not clear if these factors may modify the effect of each other. Objective Assess whether the associations between delivery types and eczema, sensitization and total IgE at age 2 years were modified by maternal use of prenatal medications. Methods Prenatal charts of women enrolled in the WHEALS birth cohort were reviewed for delivery mode and medications prescribed and administered throughout their entire pregnancy, including systemic antibiotics and vaginally applied antifungal medications. The associations between the delivery mode and select medications and eczema, sensitization (≥1 of 10 allergen specific IgE ≥0.35 IU/ml) and total IgE at age 2 years were assessed. Results There was a lower risk of eczema among vaginally versus c-section born children (relative risk adjusted for race=aRR=0.77., 95% CI 0.56, 1.05). Although not statistically significantly different, this association was stronger among the subset of children born vaginally to a mother who did not use systemic antibiotics or vaginal antifungal medications (aRR=0.69, 95% CI 0.44, 1.08) compared to those born vaginally to mothers who used systemic antibiotics or vaginal antifungals (aRR=0.81, 95% CI 0.57, 1.14). A protective association between vaginal birth and sensitization (aRR=0.86, 95% CI 0.72, 1.03) was similar for those children born vaginally to a mother who did not (aRR=0.87, 95% CI 0.69, 1.10) and who did (RR=0.85, 95% CI 0.70, 1.04) use systemic antibiotics or vaginal antifungal medications. There were no associations with total IgE. Conclusions Children born vaginally had lower risk of eczema and sensitization compared with those born via c-section; however, the protective association with eczema may be slightly weakened when mothers took systemic antibiotics or vaginally applied medications during pregnancy.

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“…Whether these associations can be attributed to changes in the infant gut microbiota remains to be seen. Sharing of specific microbes between pet and owner has been occasionally reported in adults [30-32], but colonization of the infant gut has rarely been studied in relation to pets. Using targeted methods to identify specific organisms, it has been reported that the presence of household pets does not influence colonization by Lactobacillus , E. coli , or C. difficile [23,33,34].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant gut microbiota and the hygiene hypothesis of allergic disease: impact of household pets and siblings on microbiota composition and diversity

Azad

Konya

Maughan

et al. 2013

All Asth Clin Immun

244

183

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BackgroundMultiple studies have demonstrated that early-life exposure to pets or siblings affords protection against allergic disease; these associations are commonly attributed to the “hygiene hypothesis”. Recently, low diversity of the infant gut microbiota has also been linked to allergic disease. In this study, we characterize the infant gut microbiota in relation to pets and siblings.MethodsThe study population comprised a small sub-sample of 24 healthy, full term infants from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) birth cohort. Mothers reported on household pets and siblings. Fecal samples were collected at 4 months of age, and microbiota composition was characterized by high-throughput signature gene sequencing.ResultsMicrobiota richness and diversity tended to be increased in infants living with pets, whereas these measures were decreased in infants with older siblings. Infants living with pets exhibited under-representation of Bifidobacteriaceae and over-representation of Peptostreptococcaceae; infants with older siblings exhibited under-representation of Peptostreptococcaceae.ConclusionsThis study provides new evidence that exposure to pets and siblings may influence the early development of the gut microbiota, with potential implications for allergic disease. These two traditionally protective “hygiene hypothesis” factors appear to differentially impact gut microbiota composition and diversity, calling into question the clinical significance of these measures. Further research is required to confirm and expand these findings.

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Living with Cat and Dog Increases Vaginal Colonization with E. coli in Pregnant Women

Cited by 30 publications

References 27 publications

Exposure to household furry pets influences the gut microbiota of infants at 3–4 months following various birth scenarios

Exposure to household furry pets influences the gut microbiota of infants at 3–4 months following various birth scenarios

Combined effects of prenatal medication use and delivery type are associated with eczema at age 2 years

Infant gut microbiota and the hygiene hypothesis of allergic disease: impact of household pets and siblings on microbiota composition and diversity

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