Development of the early-life gut microbiome and associations with eczema in a prospective Chinese cohort.

Eczema is a major allergic disease in children, which is particularly prevalent in Chinese children during their first year of life. In this study, we showed that alterations in the infant gut microbiota precede the development of eczema in a prospective Chinese cohort. In particular, we discovered enrichments of the genera and in the cases at 3 and 1 month of age, respectively, which may represent potential targets for intervention to prevent eczema. Besides, we identified a depletion of from 1 to 6 months of age and an enrichment of at 3 months in the eczema cases, patterns also observed in C-section-born infants within the same time frames, providing first evidence to support a role of the gut microbiota in previously reported associations between C-section and increased risk of eczema in infancy.