Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Dec;17(1):2457489.
doi: 10.1080/19490976.2025.2457489. Epub 2025 Jan 30.

The role of the early-life gut microbiome in childhood asthma

Ulrika Boulund  1 , Jonathan Thorsen  1 , Urvish Trivedi  1   2 , Kaare Tranæs  1   3 , Jie Jiang  1   3 , Shiraz A Shah  1 , Jakob Stokholm  1   3
Affiliations
Review

The role of the early-life gut microbiome in childhood asthma

Ulrika Boulund et al. Gut Microbes. 2025 Dec.

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic disease affecting millions of children worldwide, and in severe cases requires hospitalization. The etiology of asthma is multifactorial, caused by both genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, the role of the early-life gut microbiome in relation to asthma has become apparent, supported by an increasing number of population studies, in vivo research, and intervention trials. Numerous early-life factors, which for decades have been associated with the risk of developing childhood asthma, are now being linked to the disease through alterations of the gut microbiome. These factors include cesarean birth, antibiotic use, breastfeeding, and having siblings or pets, among others. Association studies have highlighted several specific microbes that are altered in children developing asthma, but these can vary between studies and disease phenotype. This demonstrates the importance of the gut microbial ecosystem in asthma, and the necessity of well-designed studies to validate the underlying mechanisms and guide future clinical applications. In this review, we examine the current literature on the role of the gut microbiome in childhood asthma and identify research gaps to allow for future microbial-focused therapeutic applications in asthma.

Keywords: Childhood asthma; early-life; gut microbiome; virome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Environmental factors, gut microbiome development trajectories and childhood asthma.There are several factors that may influence the trajectory of an individual child and their risk of developing asthma, many of which are microbiome-mediated.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The complex facets of childhood asthma and the gut microbiome. Childhood asthma and the gut microbiome are complex entities with multiple facets that must be considered when studying their relationship. Heterogeneity in study design and findings hampers our understanding of the link between the gut microbiome and asthma. This figure was generated using hypothetical data.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The road of asthma-protective interventions to improve child health.Here, we have summarized a few of the methods discussed in this review that are relevant to consider when designing intervention studies to decrease the risk of childhood asthma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhang D, Zheng J.. The burden of childhood asthma by age group, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis of global burden of disease 2019 data. Front Pediatr. 2022;10:823399. doi:10.3389/fped.2022.823399. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bisgaard H, Szefler S. Prevalence of asthma-like symptoms in young children. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2007;42(8):723–25. doi:10.1002/ppul.20644. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Thomsen SF, Duffy DL, Kyvik KO, Backer V. Genetic influence on the age at onset of asthma: a twin study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;126(3):626–630. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2010.06.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Palmer CNA, Irvine AD, Terron-Kwiatkowski A, Zhao Y, Liao H, Lee SP, Goudie DR, Sandilands A, Campbell LE, Smith FJD, et al. Common loss-of-function variants of the epidermal barrier protein filaggrin are a major predisposing factor for atopic dermatitis. Nat Genet. 2006;38(4):441–446. doi:10.1038/ng1767. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schuttelaar MLA, Kerkhof M, Jonkman MF, Koppelman GH, Brunekreef B, De Jongste JC, Wijga A, McLean WHI, Postma DS. Filaggrin mutations in the onset of eczema, sensitization, asthma, hay fever and the interaction with cat exposure. Allergy. 2009;64(12):1758–1765. doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.2009.02080.x. - DOI - PubMed

Substances