Linkou Changung Memorial Hospital has developed a method to monitor gut microbiota-derived metabolites using stool samples, with the method improving the ability to assess the risk of allergies and asthma, and reduce the chances of an attack.
The researchers won the Clinical Innovative Award at the National Innovation Awards for developing the method, the hospital said on Tuesday.
Chiu Chih-yung (邱志勇), a doctor in the hospital’s Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, who headed the research team, said that traditional methods of tracking and detecting allergic diseases relied on clinical assessments and results from allergen-specific immunoglobulin E tests.
Photo courtesy of the Linkou Changung Memorial Hospital
However, such tests are invasive and have questionable accuracy, Chiu said, adding that it was often difficult to regularly draw blood from children.
The team researched associations between gut microbiota and asthma to develop a less invasive method to help diagnose and prevent asthmatic attacks, he said.
The method used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to accurately analyze short-chain fatty acids, such as ethanoic, propanoic and butyric acid, he said, adding that the team found that butyric acid is critical to maintaining a healthy gut environment and also helps prevent allergens from entering the bloodstream.
The researchers discovered that gut microbiota of asthmatic children was imbalanced, with decreased levels of carbohydrate-active enzymes, which help digest fiber, he said.
The lack of the enzymes limits production of butyric acid, giving allergens a greater chance of entering the bloodstream and causing asthma, Chiu said.
The team’s method was 91 percent more sensitive and showed 82 percent greater specificity than other methods to determine whether children have allergic asthma, he added.
The research was a perfect marriage of high-end metabolite inspection technology and clinical application, Chiu said, adding that it provides new insight and approaches for doctors in pediatric digestive health and allergic asthma risk assessment.
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