Upset Stomach? Blame Your Childhood

Hygiene in childhood may actually affect adult digestive health.
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen raised genetically similar pigs in one of 3 different environments: outside, indoor, or in experimental isolators. The experimental isolators are environments that allow researchers to control what bacteria get in.
The pigs raised outside had Lactobacillus as the predominant bacteria in the tissue lining their digestive tracts. The pigs raised indoor had reduced Lactobacillus and increased numbers of potentially pathogenic bacteria in their digestive tract. This skewed ratio of gut flora was exaggerated in the pigs raised in the experimental isolators.
These differences that were observed in early life influenced the digestive health of the adult pigs. The bacteria introduced by the early outdoor environment seem to have improved the ability of the adult pigs to maintain proper immune responses in the digestive tract and limited excessive inflammation of the gut.
This work has implications for humans. The authors write in BMC Biology that recent population studies reveal that childhood hygiene is a significant risk factor for development of inflammatory bowel disease.
Its still too early though to blame adult digestive disease on early childhood exposures. The effect on adult microbial diversity and immune responses needs to be studied.

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