Early-Life Air Pollution Exposure Is Associated with the Infant Gut Microbiome and Fecal Metabolome in the First Two Years of Life

This report presents a study led by Tanya L. Alderete, a recipient of HEI’s 2019 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award, at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Alderete and colleagues examined whether prenatal or postnatal exposures to air pollution were associated with changes in the infant gut microbiome and fecal metabolome during the first 2 years of life.

Key takeaways:

• Prenatal and postnatal air pollution exposures were associated with changes in the abundances of gut bacteria and levels of several fecal metabolites in infants during the first 2 years of life.
• Among participants with higher air pollution exposures, the team found some evidence of fewer beneficial gut bacteria, more potentially detrimental gut bacteria, and higher levels of metabolites indicative of oxidative stress and inflammation.