Furry pets modulate gut microbiota composition in infants at risk for allergic disease

[...]a dissociation analysis was done by slow heating from 60°C to 95°C with continuous fluorescence collection. A recent meta-analysis of birth-cohort studies, however, found no effect of early pet ownership on asthma or allergic rhinitis at school age.E7 Another meta-analysis on pet exposure and the risk of atopic dermatitis reported a protective effect of exposure to dogs and pets overall on the risk of atopic dermatitis in childhood.E8 In agreement with our observation, considerable interaction among humans, home, and pet microbiota has been reported,E9 as well as shared skin microbiota by dogs and cohabiting adults.E10 Bacterial sharing of gut microbes has not hitherto been reported between species, and our studies thus provide the first information on the shared Bifidobacterium microbiota of furry family pets and infants in the same household.